UPDATE:Apparently, the Governor of Louisiana is speaking the Legislature at 1 PM today. So the Cazayoux campaign needs to postpone the live-blog to a time TBD.
Please join Don Cazayoux, a State Representative and Democratic candidate for the 6th Congressional District in Louisiana this afternoon at 1 P.M. on Monday, March 31st. Mr. Cazayoux will take questions regarding his candidacy and issues of importance to Louisianans at Daily Kingfish.
The Louisiana SoS site has the returns.
So far, state Rep. Don Cazayoux is leading a crowded Democratic primary field with 51% of the vote. Woody Jenkins has about the same margin in the GOP primary.
And yet another House Republican decides that life in the minority is a total bummer:
The dean of Louisiana’s congressional delegation, Rep. Richard Baker, has decided to step down from Congress after 22 years to take a lucrative job in the private sector representing investors he has spent a career regulating.
[…]
It is possible that the election to fill Baker’s seat could be held March 8, the same day as the first party primary to fill the vacancy of former Rep. Bobby Jindal, R-Kenner, who was inaugurated as governor Monday.
A spokesman for Secretary of State Jay Dardenne said he would recommend to Jindal today that the primary for Baker’s 6th District seat coincide with that for the 1st District. It will be up to Jindal to call the election.
Go Don Cazayoux!
Lordy, they really are dropping like flies, aren’t they? It looks like we can probably add GOP Rep. Richard Baker of Louisiana to the list of Republican retirements in the near future. The Politico has the round-up:
Republican Rep. Richard Baker of Louisiana has filed paperwork with the House Clerk to speak with an investment industry lobby shop, according to WAFB television, signaling yet another senior Republican may soon call it quits.
Baker told the Louisiana TV station that he has notified the Clerk he would like to pursue a post as the head of the Managed Funds Association, which represents hedge funds and other “non-traditional” investment industries.
Baker, a senior member of the House Financial Services Committee, came up short last year in his bid to be the top Republican on that panel. Lobbyists for the finance sector have been hinting the senior Republican was looking for a K Street job, but this is the first hard evidence he’s considering a private sector post.
He told the Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge that he could resign his post within a month if he accepts the offer, setting up the prospect that Republicans would have to defend yet another seat in a special election. He told both news outlets that he remains undecided about the post, but one Republican lobbyist suggested he is in the running for other jobs as well.
Democrats are looking to recruit state Rep. Don Cazayoux, who recently lost a bid for the Speaker of the state House, to contest this R+6.5 seat.
It’s also worth mentioning that Baton Rouge, the population anchor of this district, had a pretty sizable number of Katrina evacuees from New Orleans, possibly making the district’s red shade a fair bit lighter.
Three open seats in Louisiana this year? A wild scenario, and one that might even help Sen. Mary Landrieu by making her seniority seem all the more crucial.
The DCCC has posted this article from Roll Call entitled “Louisiana Lightning.” I recommend everyone read it in its entirety, as the article discusses Republican and Democratic strategy for 2007 and 2008. Here are some of the more interesting passages from the article:
Democratic officials believe that demographic changes in one of the South’s few remaining competitive states – for instance, many former New Orleans residents now live in Baton Rouge and Shreveport – could put Rep. Richard Baker’s (R-La.) seat within their reach.
“Baker is definitely on our radar screen,” DCCC spokesman Doug Thornell said. “We believe whether Baker runs for governor, Senate or seeks re-election, we believe he’s vulnerable.”
Baker’s 6th district is based in Baton Rouge, which swelled from 225,000 residents before Hurricanes Katrina and Rita hit in 2005 to somewhere between 275,000 and 325,000 today, according to local officials.
The DCCC also is casting a glance at Rep. Jim McCrery (R) in the 4th district.Neither district seems like particularly fertile ground for Democrats on paper – President Bush carried both districts with 59 percent of the 2004 presidential vote – but a lot has changed since then.
Shreveport just elected a black Democratic mayor in November, Democrats are quick to note.
McCrery represents a big chunk of the Pelican State’s western side in a district that extends from Northern Shreveport almost to Lake Charles.
Former Rep. Chris John (D-La.), who lost a 2004 bid for Senate, said he thinks Democrats can not only rebound but can even make gains in his home state.
“The DCCC has hit the ground running,” John said. “I was called [for advice] five weeks after the [midterm] election by the DCCC recruitment committee.”
John said committee officials are “just trying to get a real lay of the land … just trying to get a real macro-picture with what they’re dealing with.”
He also said that Rep. Rodney Alexander (R) always has to consider himself a target given that he switched parties just before the state’s filing deadline in 2004.
Who should we recruit for LA-04, LA-05, LA-06, LA-07? Which elected officials in Louisiana do you believe have the capacity to unseat one of these incumbents? Which prominent people in Louisiana do you believe should run? I have a few in mind, and I will post them in the comments. I look forward to everyone else’s suggestions.