Louisiana 2011 Legislative Analysis – Senate District 10

Incumbent – Danny Martiny (R – Term Limited in 2019)

District Map

Vote History

Current District

Senate District 10 is one of the more geographically compact Senate districts in Louisiana. It is entirely contained within the East bank of Jefferson Parish and is bordered by Lake Pontchartrain, the St. Charles Parish line (which is where the swamp begins as you leave Metro New Orleans on I-10), the Mississippi River, and the Soniat Canal.

The best way to describe the politics of the district is that you have a predominately, but not overwhelmingly, Republican constituency that typically votes Republican by a 2 to 1 margin in nearly every election. While the precincts in Harahan, River Ridge, and Kenner north of I-10 are solidly Republican, you also have a Democratic base of blacks and blue collar whites in neighborhoods near the airport. Overall, the district has an 18% black voter registration (up from 15% when the lines were last drawn), and the highest (17%, according to the 2010 Census) Hispanic population of any Senate district.

The district’s Republican voting preference, however, did not become apparent in legislative elections here until 1995. For 30 years, Democrat Hank Lauricella represented the district and was re-elected comfortably until he was held to 55% in 1991 against a Republican. When he retired in 1995, he was succeeded by Republican Art Lentini, who has held the seat for three terms with little opposition. He was term-limited in 2007 and was replaced by term limited Republican state representative Danny Martiny, who was elected with a solid 69% of the vote against an Independent. (UPDATED 9/9/2011) He is allowed to seek two more terms, and was unopposed in 2011. 

Proposed District

Population losses in Orleans and Jefferson Parish made redistricting a tricky proposition for the area, particularly since District 10 was 9% under populated. However, the elimination of a senate district stretching from Uptown New Orleans to Hammond simplified things. District 10 gained heavily Republican precincts between Soniat Canal and Transcontinental, which voted 74-21% for David Vitter. At the same time, a heavily Democratic section of South Kenner (74% of the voters in this area are black, and Melancon carried these precincts 77-17%) was removed and placed in the district of term limited Democrat (and Senate President) Joel Chaisson. These changes turned a safe Republican district into a safer one that now votes Republican by a 3 to 1 margin – only four state senate districts gave David Vitter a higher percentage of the vote. Furthermore, the black voter registration was reduced from 18 to 8%. Senator Martiny (or any Republican, for that matter) should have little trouble being re-elected in this district.