The conclusion of Louisiana’s redistricting session in late January not only added a new majority-Black district but also moved LSU and much of East Baton Rouge Parish into a new district.
The 6th Congressional District, which is now the second majority-minority district in Louisiana, includes most of East Baton Rouge and spans from the center of Louisiana to Caddo Parish. That means Baton Rouge will not only be the biggest city in its district unlike before when most had to share with New Orleans, but it will also most likely be represented by a Democrat.
Sen. Cleo Fields is expected to run for the new majority-Black district, which is currently represented by Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican from Baton Rouge.
Although part of Baton Rouge no longer has to deal with big brother New Orleans in its district, LSU political science professor Belinda Davis doesn’t believe that automatically means the entire Baton Rouge area will be better off.
“Dividing Baton Rouge into two separate congressional districts makes me worry that we’ll be in the same situation again. That we don’t have a member of Congress that’s just focused on the Baton Rouge area,” Davis said.
Formerly in District 6, LSU now lies in District 5, represented by Rep. Julia Letlow from Monroe, LA. She is the first woman to represent Louisiana in the House of Representatives in 30 years.
Letlow worked in higher education for about 16 years, according to her LinkedIn employment history. She served in several positions as an administrator and educator at the University of Louisiana at Monroe for about seven years, leaving the job for Congress in April 2021. She has also worked for Tulane University and the University of South Florida.
Letlow’s office didn’t respond to requests for comment.
A political geographer and LSU doctoral candidate in geography, Adam Dohrenwend, believes Rep. Letlow is more conservative than the former Baton Rouge representative, which can impact what gets funding and what doesn’t, he said.
Dohrenwend said whether you like Graves or not, he’s very involved in Baton Rouge because he lives here and is part of the community. Letlow lives in Richland Parish, he said, about a three-hour drive from LSU’s Baton Rouge campus.
“It’s better if your congressperson lives here,” Dohrenwend said. “…[rather] than living on the other side of the state, but I’m sure Julia Letlow will be in conversation with LSU regularly.”
Critical of the new congressional districts, Dohrendwend said it’s illegal to make race the predominant factor in drawing districts. However, districts can be drawn around party.
“Now, what’s tricky about this is that partisanship and race are highly related in the United States, in some places more than others, and it’s most related in the Deep South,” Dohrenwend said.
Packing as many Black voters into as few districts as possible means those majority-Black districts will likely be uncompetitive, according to Dohrenwend. This creates those wacky-looking districts because they’re not defined by geography or counties, he said; they’re defined by picking up very specific people.
Dohrenwend said these lines minimize the voices of Black Louisianans. Good district lines should be compact and shouldn’t meander, he said.
Louisiana’s total population is just under 4.66 million people, 1.46 million of those people being Black, according to the 2020 Louisiana Census, which is roughly a third of the state’s population. When districts are gerrymandered, it limits the ability of the public to hold representatives accountable, Dohrenwend said.
“It is gerrymandering,” Dohrenwend said. “Gerrymandering perverts the will of the people—perverts their representation.”
Dohrenwend believes that while it’s great news that there’s a second district where Black Louisianians have an opportunity to elect a candidate of their choice, there’s still racial gerrymandering in the new district map.
The other issue is that still none of the six districts are competitive, he said, because whoever the Democratic candidate is in the two majority-Black districts, is, in his view, guaranteed to win. Whoever the Republican candidates are in the other four districts are guaranteed to win as well, he said.
“If the Congressman representing a Black district is guaranteed to win, no matter what, then like, what incentives do they have to really listen to their constituents?” Dohrenwend said.
When voters feel like the election is already decided, they’re less likely to vote, Dohrenwend said.
That sentiment is shared by Savannah Harrison, president of the nonprofit conservative organization Turning Point at LSU. She believes Democratic leaders will jump on this district, leaving Republicans in the same position many Democrats are in for conservative districts. Harrison also agrees with Davis’ sentiment that the new districts should be challenged for splitting up Baton Rouge but for a different reason.
“You cannot have East Baton Rouge with the top of Louisiana,” Harrison said of the new District 5 covering half of the parish. “It just doesn’t work. It’s representing two very different parts of the state.”
Political science and international studies junior Lailah Williams is the vice president of LSU Geaux Vote and is the political outreach chair for the Black Student Union. While there’s much joy and celebration in the inclusion of Black voters in the conversation of state politics, nothing is perfect, Williams said.
“The fact that there was even a fight to be had about whether or not a population as large as the African American population in the state of Louisiana, [needed] to be represented electorally is ridiculous,” Williams said.
Williams believes Rep. Letlow has a responsibility to engage with young people more than ever before now that she’s representing the flagship. Neglecting the opinions of young voters can be a huge slap in the face, Williams said.
The new districts are a win because, in a state like Louisiana, people still get up and fight, especially Black women who are at the forefront of initiating change, Williams said.
“The win comes out of a very frustrating and honestly very devastating reality, that despite the overwhelming presence of Black Americans in the state of Louisiana,” Williams said, “there is still a concerted and concentrated effort in disenfranchising their votes and their voices.”
