Tag: Louisiana

So the images are pretty self-explanatory. I’ve created two minority-majority districts and protected (I think) Charlie Melancon. My working assumption is that we’re at the end of the road for electing white Democrats in the deep south. Of course, the final map will not look like this: I’ve recreated the Cleo Fields’s illegal “Z” district. So what I have in mind is what a Democratic gerrymander might look at. Enjoy….

North Louisiana:

South Louisiana:

Shreveport:

Baton Rouge and Lafayette:

New Orleans:

Episode 5 in my redistricting series, and as you can see, I’m picking up the pace, having just covered Georgia and New Jersey yesterday. Because the Census released 2008 county estimates last week, I feel like knocking out these diaries for the states I already mapped using 2007 numbers. Of course, because they’re 2007 numbers, they’re not quite up to snuff, but in most cases, the lines wouldn’t look too dramatically different using newer stats.

Previously covered:

Diary 1: Massachusetts and Texas

Diary 2: Michigan and Nevada

Diary 3: Iowa and Ohio

Diary 4: Georgia and New Jersey

Geek out below!

Florida

Now, this is the single hardest state I had to tackle. More so than Texas, more so than Ohio, more so than Pennsylvania. That’s because Florida is perhaps the most masterful Republican gerrymander in the nation; a state that voted 51% to 48% for President Obama is represented in Congress by 15 Republicans and 10 Democrats, and before 2006, the skew was 18-7. Considering Democratic dominance in South Florida and clear Dem trends along I-4, that’s pretty astounding cartographic craftiness by the GOP.

Unfortunately, unless we pick up the governor’s mansion in 2010 (virtually impossible, IMHO, unless Crist runs for the Senate, and even then, the GOP bench in Florida is quite deep), Republicans are set for another round of redistricting monopoly in 2011-12 (one caveat: a nonpartisan commission initiative is on the ballot in 2010, but since it needs 60% to pass, I’m skeptical). While Republicans’ room for growth is limited, what with Dem trends in Central FL and the Cuban districts softening, there could be at least one Dem casualty along with a new GOP seat, for a 17-9 delegation, though 16-10 would be a lot easier for legislators to ensure, since it’s not exactly a cinch to dismantle a moderate I-4 Dem like Suzanne Kosmas. Note: there is an outside chance that Florida will pick up two seats in reapportionment, but the disastrous real estate market has brought that long-famed migration to the Sunshine State to a grinding halt. In 2008, even recession-battered California grew faster. So I’m betting on a one-seat gain; the explosive growth in Florida between 2000 and 2006 more or less ensures at least that one gain, but I can’t envision a sufficiently large uptick in growth between now and the Census for a 27th District.

To sum it up, I’m actually not very satisfied with this map. It’s revoltingly gerrymandered, though no worse than the current iteration, and I’m not sure about some of my boundaries (is Alcee Hastings’ 23rd still VRA black-majority with these lines?). But I tried to maintain the best possible lines for the Republicans (i.e. mostly the status quo), with an emphasis on incumbent protection. I may have done things a bit differently if I’d used 2008 numbers, so an eventual do-over on my part isn’t out of the question.

To the point: the GOP has a real problem along I-4: with Orange and Osceola Counties decidedly Democratic, and Adam Putnam’s soon-to-be-open seat a near-tie between McCain and Obama, they can only play offense so much. I figured that since Orlando is becoming so progressive, they would concede Alan Grayson’s seat (assuming he is reelected in 2010) and hurt Kosmas only by roughly maintaining the current, Feeney-drawn lines. Meanwhile, FL-12 (Putnam) is shored up by moving into some hardcore Republican territory, and a new 26th District is created from Central Florida leftovers (unfortunately for them, it only barely leans Republican in a neutral year as I’ve drawn it, and in a year like 2006 or 2008, might well elect a Democrat). Again, I tried my best to be devious, but when a state is already so gerrymandered for one party and the trends are running against that party in key regions of said state, “safety first” is the likely tack.

As for South Florida, my boundaries are imprecise, so the summary descriptions are a bit more informative. Basically, I tried to replicate the current boundaries in most of these cases, while cleaning up the 23rd (as I mentioned, though, it probably can’t be as cleaned-up as I drew it since it is a VRA seat). If more specific Census estimates were available, I could have known how to, for example, boost the Cuban-American percentage in Districts 18, 21, and 25, but instead, I was left with a sloppy, low-tech method as the Miami metro area goes.

For now, this is the map I’ve got:

Ugly? You bet. Want a logical map? The Sunshine State GOP wouldn’t hear of it.

District 1 – Jeff Miller (R-Chumuckla) — contracts in area; still the most conservative district in the state.

District 2 – Allen Boyd (D-Monticello) — still an old-school district of Jimmy Carter white Democrats who vote GOP for President. When Boyd retires, we will be in trouble here, as even the boosted black turnout of 2008 only resulted in a 54-45 McCain victory.

District 3 – Corrine Brown (D-Jacksonville) — well, it’s not quite as grossly drawn as before, but it must remain a VRA African-American seat, so I had to get creative.

District 4 – Ander Crenshaw (R-Jacksonville) — random trivia: did you know there were Civil War battles in this district?

District 5 – Ginny Brown-Waite (R-Brooksville) — I tried to clean up this and the 6th, both previously with needlessly messy lines; this one stays safely Republican, but now only splits one county (Pasco).

District 6 – Cliff Stearns (R-Ocala) — stays heavily Republican but looks a bit more aesthetic. No, I don’t like Gainesville being represented by a Republican any more than you do, but it is a blue island in a sea of red (much like Athens, Georgia).

District 7 – John Mica (R-Winter Park) — by only encroaching a bit into Orange County and making St. Johns County the largest population source, I attempted to help Mica, but the long-term trends here are not advantageous to him. If he moved out of Orange County, he could be drawn a safer seat.

District 8 – Alan Grayson (D-Orlando) — entirely within Orange County, meant to soak up Democrats to allow for a Republican 26th and to prevent Kosmas from getting too comfortable. I think if there’s one painful concession the GOP will have to make, this is it.

District 9 – Gus Bilirakis (R-Palm Harbor) — jumps around north Tampa Bay looking for Republicans, doesn’t change too much.

District 10 – Bill Young (R-Indian Shores) — entirely within Pinellas, probably still a 50/50 district. This is a seat they may well lose when Young calls it quits. With both A) the need to protect Bilirakis, and B) Castor’s 11th being maxed-out on Democrats, it’s another uncomfortable decision for the Republicans not to shore this district up very much. As long as the aging Young stays on the ballot, they don’t have to worry.

District 11 – Kathy Castor (D-Tampa) — still the bay-dancing Tampa-St. Petersburg seat, concentrating Democrats and with a significant black minority.

District 12 – Adam Putnam (R-Bartow) — since McCain won here by a mere inch, and Putnam is leaving in 2010, I figured protecting the 12th for future elections will be a major priority (if a Dem wins in 2010, the GOP will seek to dismantle that person before targeting Grayson or Kosmas). So, even as slightly GOP-leaning Polk County dominates my 12th, Sumter, Hardee, and DeSoto put it over the edge to produce a McCain victory of at least 53-46.

District 13 – Vern Buchanan (R-Sarasota) — this is only a tad more Republican than before, with the whole inclusion of Manatee County aiding GOP numbers.

District 14 – Connie Mack (R-Fort Myers) — dominated by Lee County with remainders of Sarasota and Charlotte. Still the quintessential Gulf Coast GOP mecca.

District 15 – Bill Posey (R-Rockledge) — in retrospect, I’d do this differently, as this is one district the GOP would probably weaken a bit to harm Kosmas or solidify the new 26th.

District 16 – Tom Rooney (R-Tequesta) — stretches from Charlotte to Palm Beach, much like before. If Rooney is easily reelected in 2010, he will be another incumbent they loosen up to cement weaker districts.

District 17 – Kendrick Meek (D-Miami) — should stay the most heavily black, most overwhelmingly Democratic district in the state.

District 18 – Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Miami) — while Ros-Lehtinen can probably hold on quite a few more cycles, this is the only GOP district other than Bill Young’s 10th that voted for Obama, and as Miami Hispanics trend toward the Democrats, all three Cuban-American Republican seats will be endangered. What happens when Ros-Lehtinen and/or the Diaz-Balarts retire? I’m not exactly sure how to solidify these three seats, as the nearest turf they could grab is mostly liberal-leaning anyway. Perhaps they could snag some Gulf Coast Republicans, but that would dilute the VRA Hispanic percentages…

District 19 – Robert Wexler (D-Boca Raton) — the most liberal of the three “Jewish districts” (I say that, of course, tongue firmly in cheek, as the Jewish percentage is a distinct minority in all three seats).

District 20 – Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Weston) — the second of the three, nearly as Democratic as the 19th.

District 21 – Lincoln Diaz-Balart (R-Miami) — as with Ros-Lehtinen and the 18th, I don’t know how to shore up the three traditionally GOP Cuban seats.

District 22 – Ron Klein (D-Boca Raton) — still a coastal stretch; I think the GOP won’t change the lines much here, unless they can find a way to pack Democrats here who would otherwise be left in the 18th, 21st, or 25th.

District 23 – Alcee Hastings (D-Miramar) — regardless of how my lines appear, Hastings’ seat will stay majority-black under the VRA.

District 24 – Suzanne Kosmas (D-New Smyrna Beach) — the closest I could come to targeting Kosmas was to only take in 10% of Orange County, along with 64% of GOP-leaning Seminole and 67% of narrowly Dem-leaning Volusia. Once again, Republican gerrymandering in Central Florida can’t possibly get much more aggressive without sacrificing a couple seats.

District 25 – Mario Diaz-Balart (R-Miami) — see the 18th and 21st.

New District 26 – Central FL, Leans Republican — Osceola and St. Lucie Counties favor Democrats, so it is no accident that I made the largest pop. source here 56% McCain-supporting Lake County, cutting through heavily GOP Okeechobee. Due to the inclusion of Osceola, there will be a significant Hispanic minority here, and a Dem base vote of about 46-47%, rendering it vulnerable to a future loss. Is there a way to draw this that is better for the Republicans? Probably, and I’m sure their computers will find it…but Putnam, Posey, Rooney, Bilirakis, Brown-Waite, and Stearns all need to be protected at the same time. The balance along I-4 really is that tenuous for them.

Overall, my map is flawed, as is the current map in Florida. I intended for realism’s sake to create a masterful Republican gerrymander and ended up with a plan that would, at best, maintain the status quo with a 16-10 GOP edge (with the best possible scenario being an eventual 18-8 if Boyd retires, Kosmas is defeated, and every Republican seat stays intact…quite a tall order indeed). Unless Central FL swings decisively to the Republicans in 2010, there is minimal room for offense on their part…and how to stave off Dem advances in Miami-Dade? In the end, to everyone’s surprise, the biggest winners from the next map may be incumbent Democrats like Klein, Grayson, and Kosmas who picked up seats drawn to reelect Republicans. It really is in the GOP’s interest to salvage what they have in Florida rather than get too greedy.

Louisiana

This was a lot easier, though not exceedingly comforting for a Democrat. The severe population loss in the New Orleans area means that there may no longer be a strong Dem seat in Louisiana, let alone a VRA district. No doubt my proposed District 2 would retain a large black percentage, but I’m far from certain it would be anything near a majority. Might the same judicial system that once rejected Cleo Fields’ “Z district” as a racial gerrymander change its tune in the name of the Voting Rights Act?

As for the political dynamics in Louisiana, Jindal will still be Governor at least through 2011, when redistricting starts, and the legislature is perilously close to flipping to the GOP (the House is already run by a de facto GOP-friendly coalition, with a Republican Speaker to boot). Even if the Senate remains in Democratic hands, Louisiana Dems aren’t exactly known for their party loyalty.

But the task here is simple, and Democratic strength in the Pelican State has collapsed so rapidly that partisan considerations aren’t nearly as influential as they would seem. Everyone agrees that a New Orleans-area seat has to be eliminated, so here’s roughly what I imagine the somewhat Republican-esque legislature coming up with:

Note: Technically, Charlie Melancon’s home was put in the 1st for population reasons, but I would expect him to run in the 2nd instead.

District 1 – Steve Scalise (R-Jefferson) — had to expand in land, but stays heavily Republican.

District 2 – tentatively, Joseph Cao (R-New Orleans) vs. Charlie Melancon (D-Napoleonville) — Melancon would do well to move here, as the boundaries do vaguely resemble his old 3rd, but since the bulk of district population is in Jefferson and Orleans Parishes, it’s his seat that was cracked and eliminated. A New Orleans pol would be favored geographically, and I’m not sure what the political leanings would be here (my guess is competitive, with Dem strength in New Orleans offset by GOP dominance in Jefferson Parish). This might make a worthy court challenge, depending what the race stats are here (and I have no idea what they would be, nor does anyone else post-Katrina).

District 3 – John Fleming (R-Minden) — still quite Republican and trending more so.

District 4 – Rodney Alexander (R-Quitman) — other than the 1st, the most Republican district in the state.

District 5 – Bill Cassidy (R-Baton Rouge) — I thought including some more former Melancon territory might help Cassidy and lessen the influence of Dem-friendly Baton Rouge, but it might also prompt Melancon to move here and mount a long-shot challenge instead of battling it out with a New Orleanian in the urban/suburban-dominated 2nd.

District 6 – Charles Boustany (R-Lafayette) — expands in area, but is still the conservative Cajun seat.

Other than what happens with the eliminated seat, there shouldn’t be too much drama in Louisiana, since Jindal’s loyal GOPers and the conservative Dems will likely seek a consensus plan that somehow cracks Melancon’s seat and consolidates it with NOLA. Actually, the real drama may arise in the courtroom re: racial demographics in each district.

Coming soon: Pennsylvania and Utah, followed by Arizona and New York. Eventually I may tackle other states as well, but I haven’t even mapped New York yet.

EDIT: Clearly my Louisiana map is something of a flop, and I blame the fact that I drew it some weeks ago using 2007 estimates. If I’d known Orleans Parish had regained nearly 73,000 residents between 2007 and 2008, I would have drawn the lines a lot differently, and probably could have more easily retained that VRA New Orleans-area seat. I still imagine Melancon’s seat being cracked, but the majority-black 2nd will remain (just expand due to population loss from 2000).

Hopefully my Florida effort was less ill-informed?

On Friday, we learned that Dick Cheney will be coming to Baton Rouge to raise money for Republican hopeful Bill Cassidy on Monday.

Can YOU raise more money than Dick Cheney? Can you help stand up for Don Cazayoux? Don stood with us on the bailout, voting NAY both times the House voted, on Monday and Friday.

Don’s opponent, Bill Cassidy is sitting on a war chest of $565,000, which is certain to grow after Dick comes through for him. And the lies emanating from the Cassidy campaign have already started.

Can YOU raise more money than Dick Cheney? Can you stand up for Don, who voted to increase our investment in alternative energy sources? Can you stand up for a Congressman that gets it, rather than one who believes that running against earmarks will save the economy?

September 6th is primary day in Louisiana, and midnight was the deadline for congressional candidates to file their pre-primary fundraising reports with the FEC. Once again, SSP rounds up the numbers, covering the period of 7/1 through 8/17:

As usual, all figures are in thousands. No reports have been filed yet for William Jefferson or Cedric Richmond, but we’ll update the chart once they’ve filed.

An impressive period for Democrat Don Cravins, who managed to outraise Boustany. Jim Harlan continues to amaze with his self-funded campaign in the R+19 LA-01, and Carmouche continues to lead the field in the fightin’ 4th.

Cazayoux has some work to do in order to replenish his war chest, but at the same time, he’s spending money at a fast clip in order to stay on the airwaves.

UPDATE: LOL.

This will likely be the longest post I have ever written. But I can’t make claim to most of it, or for the inspiration of writing it. Both those go to Mike Tidwell, whose book, Bayou Farewell: The Tragic Death of Louisiana’s Cajun Coast, was an amazing eye opening book, the best travelogue, and the best environmental expose that I have ever seen, ranking at the very top of the best non-fiction books that I have read.  

The problem? The greatest environmental disaster in country is happening, right now, on Louisiana’s coastline, and nobody is doing anything about, in fact, no one, not environmental activists, know about it.

Swampy South Louisiana, unbeknownst to most people, contains a staggering 25% of America’s total wetlands, 40% of its salt marsh. This area contains a massive ecosystem, as Tidwell notes:

Wetland habitats hold the title as the most biologically productive areas on earth, and the great range of plant and animal life found within Louisiana’s coastal zone provides food and protection for no fewer than 353 species of birds residing here at some point during the calendar year.

The area is also one of the nation’s largest seafood producers, thanks to the marsh and swamp.

Before the morning is out, he’ll pull in a respectable catch of 120 pounds, part of annual Louisiana crab harvest that has no equal anywhere outside of Alaska. Indeed, I learn later, that even in Maryland’s Chesapeake Bay region where I presently live and where the blue crab industry is a source of great local pride and eating crab cake borders on cult behavior-even there as much as a quarter of all crabs consumed actually come from Louisiana during some months.

Yet crabs are just one small part of the take in this massive estuarine waterscape of fresh, brackish, and saltwater habitats spread across endless bays, lagoons, inlets, and marshes shaped by the Mississippi River. Coastal Louisiana, by itself, accounts for an astonishing 30% of America’s annual seafood harvest, measured by weight.

Tidwell describes the beauty of this vast area:

What’s being lost is an American Treasure, a place as big as the Everglades and just as beautiful, where sky and marsh and wildlife converge, where millions of migratory birds thrive on wetlands that once served as muse to John James Audubon.

What exactly is happening? Well, since the 1930s, Louisiana has already lost an amount of land the size of the state of Delaware. Today, more than fifty acres of land are lost everyday, every ten months Louisiana loses an area the size of Manhattan. An area the size of the state of Connecticut will wash away in the coming decades, three million square acres of barrier islands, marsh and wetlands.

Why has this happened? It is not nature made, this is an entirely man-made conundrum, and, again, allow to use several of Tidwell’s sharpest words here, as they say it best.

Today, throughout the wetlands of lower Louisiana, more than ten thousand miles of such pipe lie underwater-criss-crossing, interlocking, overlapping, going everywhere. And to lay pipe across this ocean of marsh grass, an area so vast it’s often called the “trembling prairie” with its pudding like mud below, requires the construction of canals: straight and narrow streets of water dredged four or five feet deep, knifing through the grass…

“This?” I say. With a girth of about two hundred feet, the water almost as wide as Bayou Lafourche itself, I had simply assumed it was another large bayou meandering to the gulf. But Tee Tim informs me this stretch of water began as a roughly thirty foot canal builtby Texaco in the early 1960s…

“This is happening because the Mississippi River doesn’t flood anymore?” I ask Tim…

Reading up on the subject later, I learn that tattered boot of Louisiana was created exclusively by the mighty hand of the Mississippi…

Then came the worst deluge of all, the Great Flood of 1927, which killed over a thousand people in Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana. Intending to end such outburst once and for all, the U.S. Corps of Engineers after 1927 perfected the construction of massive, unbreachable levees along the entire lower Mississippi. This has frozen the river in its present course, which streams past New Orleans and out into the Gulf where its sediments no longer create any land whatsoever, tumbling instead thousands of feet over the cliff-like edge of the continental shelf.

Adding to the damage is an effect called “intrusion” where salt water moves into freshwater. Driving the oysters, alligators and freshwater fish further inland, and, killing thousands of trees. In Houma, in Terrebonne Parish about eighty to a hundred miles South of Baton Rouge you can drive down certain roads and see the groves of hundreds of dead old growth oak and cypress trees.

I recently learned that oil companies had for decades engaged in abusive practices, including dumping massive amounts of a toxic drilling by-product known as brine into holes dredged into the marsh, the dredging which, of course, weakned the marsh more and made it break up more rapidly and letting this toxic chemical spread out over a vast area. Oil Companies did this until 1990. Then there’s the canal’s they cut in the swamp, ten thousand miles of them. These rapidly speed up erosion so much that a canal that was thirty feet wide twenty years ago is over 200 feet wide today. They also let in salt water into the freshwater estuaries which kills thousands of trees and further weakens the soil by destroying freshwater wetland ecosystems. The canals are the main cause of the massive intrusion seen over the last few decades, leaving it’s haunted mark over all the land. Tree graveyards.

The Louisiana coastline is moving inward at a rate of half a mile per year, per year, in places. One of second cousins in Houma had a no hunting sign up about thirteen feet from the waters edge. Eight Months later, eight months, that sign was five feet out in the water. Eighteen feet of ground gone in eight months. Some people are keeping entire towns and neighborhoods together by dumping tens of thousands of tons of oyster shells where there is no soil or a road has completely disapeared. They even use Christmas trees, thousands of them to break waves and try to create new marsh when all of these programs are very useless and the 2050 plan is the only scientifically proven mass-scale plan to save my states beautiful and extremely ecologically important coastline.

The eventual result would the wearing away of the entirety of Louisiana’s jagged, boot-like coastline to something much further inland that was more resemblant to Mississippi and Alabama.

This is the biggest environmental disaster in the United States today. And, Tidwell concurs with this assessment in his book, though he is an admitted dedicated environmentalist. Look at what he states:

The Chesapeake Bay, of course, was another enormous estuary system in decline…But the bay, I realized, had two major factors on its side: much of America understood it was a threatened gem, and relatively aggressive programs were in place to try to bring it back to health. Most importantly, unlike the Louisiana Bayou region, the Chesapeake wasn’t literally disappearing…

Similar thoughts came to mind as I reached the Great Smoky Mountains where acid rain was poisoning thousands of acres of spruce firs and northern hardwoods at higher elevations…

The same held for the Everglades, which lay a few hundred miles away as I rolled further southward, edging the Florida Panhandle. There, not only was is possible to bring back this huge wetlands complex after a century of abuse, but it was actually being accomplished with a recently passed 7.8 billion dollar federal and state rescue plan…

Meanwhile, coastal Louisiana continued its headlong spring toward a point of no return- unsalvageable, perhaps forever- and virtually no one had an inkling. This despite the fact that it provides…plus the practical benefits of a fifth of American domestic oil, a huge amount of it’s seafood, and hurricane protection for nearly 1% of it’s population. These were all functions neither the Everglades, nor the Chesapeake, despite their many merits, could claim.

Why does nobody no about it. Well, the main ideas tossed around are the fact that south Louisiana is so far away from any major news outlets, it’s not near a massive population like the Everglades and Chesapeake Bay, and it doesn’t get the same tourism. 20 million to South Florida every year, less than a tenth of that to South Louisiana, and very little of that to tour the Bayous and see the beautiful and unique coastline of marshes and barrier islands.

And, this is important, not only because of the environmental impact and natural beauty, as mentioned by Tidwell, but also because every 2.7 miles of marsh grass absorb one foot of a hurricane’s storm surge, and therein lies the real reason New Orleans’ leaves failed. In 1960 more than fifty miles of marsh lay between it and the sea, now that number is twenty five mils. The marsh and barrier islands serve as a major natural buffer for hurricanes for the state’s two million + people, some 1.2 million of them living in the southern part of the state that would get smacked hardest by Hurricanes.

He finds out later along his journey, there is a way to stop this, there is a way to save Louisiana’s coastline but we must get to it. Let me quote his epilogue.

Unfortunately, the marsh almost everywhere else along the coast continues its rush toward oblivion, with land still disappearing at the astonishing rate of 25-35 square miles a year. As if this wasn’t enough, a new threat has emerged. Fishermen and biologists have begun to notice huge areas of previously healthy green marsh suddenly turning brown and dying all along the coast…

Whatever the cause, the vast and sickening new swaths of marsh began to die at such a rate that Louisiana Governor Mike Foster, as avid duck hunter across the wetlands, finally became alarmed. Foster organized an event that restoration activists had been seeking for years: a summit of state business leaders, conversationalists, scientists, civic leaders, and government officials designed to fully commit the entire state to saving the coast.

The bill they came up with is the Coast 2050 plan, designed to cure all the problems, by instituting a massive rebuilding of barrier islands, and an equally massive controlled artificial diversions of the Mississippi River. In several, small areas, (30-40 thousand acres), have been done already to remarkable success. In those areas not only has the erosion stopped, there has also been a gain of new land and new marsh. It also calls in for the filling in of all oil pipe “canals”, which are an abusive environmental practice that has caused intrusion and rapidly sped up the natural erosion. It even plants thousands of acres of new marshland.

The full scale project could be done with 14 billion dollars, the cost of six weeks in Iraq to save three million acres of wetland that are more than worth it. It hasn’t been done yet though, pressure needs to be put representatives to sponsor and bring this bill to the floor and get it passed. Quickly. Rita and Katrina did a great deal more damage and sped up the process. Old groves of trees are dying faster, and, if we do not get started on the project in the next decade, (it is a long-scaled project), we may not be able to save and rebuild Louisiana’s coast.

This is so important. I’m glad we’re spending billions to clean up Chesapeake, I’m glad we’re spending billions to repair the Everglades, but Louisiana needs fixing soon, it’s a bigger environmental disaster than either. It will completely cease to exist very soon if we do nothing. This cultural landmark and beautiful area. It would destroy one of the last truly unique individual American cultures, displaces hundreds of thousands of people and leave two million more much more vulnerable to hurricanes.

Also, I would so strongly recommend Mike Tidwell’s book. It is a great expose and travelogue, giving a fascinating insight into the Cajun culture and world, where there are no malls, Wal-Marts, franchise stores. It’s a moving read full of vivid people and descriptions I can vouch for myself, (having been to the areas quite often and seen many of the places he describes myself).

Please help me spread awareness of this problem. Please help me get people involved with this.

P.S. Please vote in poll. There are no counters, so I use the poll to see how many people have read a given post. So, again, please vote so I can satisfy my own curiosity. Thank you.

Newly-elected GOP Rep. Steve Scalise won’t get a free pass this fall:

“Pro-life, pro-gun, fiscally conservative” Democrat Jim Harlan announced his candidacy for Congress on YouTube on Independence Day, bringing a self-funding challenger to recently elected Republican Rep. Steve Scalise this fall.

Harlan, who was a registered independent until February, attended the Democratic Convention earlier this year for the district’s special election in March and decided to get involved.

“He didn’t think [Scalise] would do a good job in Congress, and decided he might as well do it by himself,” campaign manager Joel Coon said. “The more he saw of the [campaign] process, the more he thought about it.”

Harlan, a moneyed businessman, is bringing an eyebrow-raising amount of his own resources to the race:

Harlan made his money, according to Coon, building up factories across the country and internationally for a wide variety of technologies and businesses. He will report more than $500,000 to the Federal Elections Commission later this month, which is more than what incumbent Scalise reported in the first quarter.

The $500,000 is mostly Harlan’s personal wealth, Coon said, “but he hasn’t begun to raise the money he can.”

Louisiana’s 1st CD is one of the most Republican districts in the nation. With a PVI of R+18.5, it supported Bush by a 71-28 margin in 2004 and Scalise crushed Democrat Gilda Reed by 75-22.5 in the May 3rd special election to fill the open seat. While it goes without saying that Harlan would be an extreme long shot, his candidacy will at least keep Scalise’s money in the 1st District and out of the NRCC’s coffers.

This is pretty remarkable. Despite many prognosticators writing the obituary for the Louisiana Democratic Party after Hurricane Katrina wrought major damage on New Orleans in 2005, Democrats now have three of state’s seven House seats, a top-tier challenger in the 4th District, a potentially serious challenge in the 7th District, and still might score a good challenger in the 5th District. With Jim Harlan running against Scalise, Democrats are making a fight of it in every corner of Louisiana this year.

On the web:

Jim Harlan for Congress

I AM!

Today, State Senator Don Cravins, Jr. announced his candidacy for Congress as a Democrat! Cravins said that he’s running because:

The people of Louisiana are ready for a change and deserve representation that is line with their values. I am running for Congress because we need a leader who will work to find solutions to the hard times we face right now, like the skyrocketing cost of gas, groceries, and health care. I promise to bring my record of effective leadership and my strong faith and Louisiana values to Congress.”

It’s about time we take this seat back from Congressman Boustany, who can’t be bothered to bring home all the bacon he can so towns like Cameron, LA can rebuild after Rita. It’s about time we take this seat back from a Congressman that flip-flopped on healthcare for children … he originally opposed SCHIP, the health care program for children. Then he saw that the Democratic Party was gunning for him, and he changed his tune. We need somebody who has better judgment than that the first time around, and doesn’t need to be threatened with a election challenge to do the right thing.

Again, I ask … ARE YOU WITH JUNIOR?

Then go to his website and sign up!

By now, y’all know that President Bush, Governor Jindal, and Senator Vitter are coming to town tonight to raise money for John N. Kennedy.

This is why Senator Landrieu’s campaign just sent out an email asking for a mere $5 to show Mr. Kennedy and his brand new amigos in the Republican Party that she’s got more grassroots support.

So if you can forego that cup of coffee from CC’s, PJ’s or Starbucks for the next few days, drop her some coin by clicking on the image to the right.  Let’s show the Republican Party that they cannot count on Louisiana this fall.  

Aight, y’all … in less than month, voters will head back to the polls and decide which candidate best represents Louisiana values. Don Cazayoux’s campaign is putting the final touches on their sprint to the finish and they need our help to put them over the top. It’s time to get their message out and make sure all the voters know that Don will stand up for Louisiana families.

Don has promised to stand up for Louisiana’s middle class families by fighting to provide access to high quality, affordable health care, while at the same time making it easier for small businesses to provide health care to their employees. He’s also committed to keeping the lower tax rates for middle class families, so they can keep what they earn, and reinvest it right here in Louisiana.

CQ Quarterly called this race a “No Clear Favorite,” which is astonishing, as this district has been represented by a Republican for the last 30+ years. Even the Cook Political Report called a Cazayoux-Jenkins matchup “a perfect storm for Democrats”:

Insiders on both sides agree the nomination of the current favorites – moderate Democratic state Rep. Don Cazayoux and GOP newspaper publisher Woody Jenkins – would present something akin to a perfect storm for Democrats in the May 3rd special general election.

Cazayoux, much like neighboring Democratic Rep. Charlie Melancon did in 2004, could very plausibly take advantage of GOP disunity and use his rural background to cut into the heart of the district’s GOP base.

Folks, we can win this one. But we need to step it up. You can donate, or volunteer. In order to win this one, we all have to step it up.

Let’s set a goal of $10,000 from the netroots. Right now, Don’s raised $60,810 from 110 donors over at ActBlue.

Let’s make it $70,810 in 7 days. I know we can do that.

Donate.

Volunteer.

It may have taken a few months for it to shake out, but it looks like Louisiana Democrats finally have their candidate in the open seat race to replace retiring GOP Rep. Jim McCrery:

Caddo Parish District Attorney Paul Carmouche formally announced on Wednesday that he will be a candidate for Louisiana’s 4th Congressional District seat this fall.

While this R+6.5 PVI open seat may not be at the top of the GOP’s list of worries this November, Carmouche’s candidacy will bring a real fight to the Republicans.  So sayeth CQ:

Carmouche’s decision contributed to CQ Politics’ change of its rating on the 4th District race to Leans Republican, a category for highly competitive races, from Safe Republican, a designation applied to contests that the GOP appears certain to win.

Carmouche is the longtime district attorney in Caddo Parish, which includes Shreveport, the population center for the 4th District and the third most-populous city in Louisiana. […]

Carmouche is not seeking re-election this year as district attorney, an office he has held since 1979. Democratic officials cite his long background in law enforcement and his conservative views on social issues, including his opposition to abortion and gun control measures, as among the reasons they think he will be able to overcome the district’s tilt toward the Republicans in presidential election years.

Not exactly the next John Yarmuth, but I’ll take what I can get in a district this red — as long as it gives the GOP some more heartburn.  The results from the May 3rd special election to fill Richard Baker’s seat in LA-06 (also R+6.5) could prove to be something of a bellwether here.