John Alario (D)
Term limited in 2019
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 15,399 (54%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 12,872 (46%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 15,277 (48%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 16,817 (52%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 24,368 (56%)
John Kerry (D) 19,146 (44%)
Others 344 (0%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 22,230 (53%)
Chris John (D) 11,442 (27%)
Others 8,491 (20%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 2,906 (24%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 4,567 (38%)
Mike Francis (R) 1,158 (10%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 2,634 (22%)
Others 714 (6%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 14,762 (57%)
Walter Boasso (D) 3,440 (13%)
John Georges (I) 6,072 (23%)
Foster Campbell (D) 1,246 (5%)
Others 329 (1%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 10,963 (46%)
Mike Strain (R) 8,606 (36%)
Wayne Carter (R) 3,415 (14%)
Don Johnson (R) 1,070 (4%)

In Metro Orleans, parish boundaries are technicalities, as Orleans and Jefferson Parishes both straddle the Mississippi River. The real “boundaries” are between the “Eastbank” and the “Westbank” (affectionately titled “the best bank” by locals). The West Bank has historically contained proportionately more of the blue collar and black Democratic suburbs, although Republicans, who currently hold two house seats in the area, are competitive here. Senate District 8, for all practical purposes, is the “Westbank District” of Jefferson Parish, stretching from the levees of the Mississippi River to Grand Isle in the south, excluding majority black sections of Gretna and Marrero. The district itself has a 27% black voter population (up from 24% of the population in 2003) and leans Republican, giving Republicans between 52-57% of the vote, although it gave New Orleans native Mary Landrieu 54% of the vote in her 2002 re-election bid.

This Senate seat was represented by Chris Ullo from 1987 to 2007, after he vacated his House seat in 1987 to upset longtime incumbent Elwyn Nicholson 55-37%. He was then re-elected with at least 67% of the vote until his share of the vote dropped to 56% against Republican Robert Evans in 2003.

Sen. Ullo was term-limited in 2007 and was replaced by his former House colleague (and former Speaker of the House) John Alario. Though Republicans fiercely contested the seat, it was thought that some of the anti-Alario ads contained racial slurs against Italian-Americans. Additionally, Alario’s ability to deliver for his district even earned him the support of the Times-Picayune. After the smoke had cleared, he garnered an impressive 63% of the vote. Not only did his state House district give him a whopping 76% of the vote, but he received 62% of the vote in blue-collar neighborhoods in Harvey, as well as 55% of the vote in Republican Terrytown.