Incumbent – Fred Mills, Jr (R – Term Limited in 2023)

District Map

Senate District 22

Vote History

Current District

If there were one state Senate district that best fit the stereotypical essence of Louisiana outside of New Orleans, it would likely be Senate District 22, as swamps, plantations, sugarcane, and the oil industry are all present here. The Senate District itself contains all of Iberia and all but two precincts of St. Martin Parish. The plantation heritage is why the district has a significant 31% black voter registration, which is about what it has been since the lines were last drawn in 2003.

Politically, this is a swing district – it nearly always votes for the winning candidate in statewide elections, and even replicates the winning candidate’s statewide percentages. The only exceptions to the rule have been if one of the candidates came from the area. Within the district, Iberia Parish has a significant oil industry presence and leans Republican. St. Martin Parish is primarily agricultural and almost always goes Democratic, although there is a mild Republican trend here from Lafayette suburban growth spreading down I-10 towards Breaux Bridge. In fact, this is one of the few parishes where black voter registration has decreased (from 32% in recent years to 29%).

Though the district, like Louisiana, is historically Democratic, it has definitely moved in the Republican direction in recent years with regards to its electoral performance and its senate representation, although it typically has contested elections only when the seat is vacant. From 1975 to 1993, Democrat Oswald Decuir held the seat, resigning because he was elected to a district judgeship. He was succeeded by Craig Romero, who switched parties in 1995 right before the filing deadline, although this switch didn’t hurt his electoral prospects: he was elected and re-elected without any opposition. He was term limited out in 2007; perhaps in anticipation of this, he unsuccessfully ran for Congress in 2004 and 2006.

A hard fought race ensured in 2007 to replace Senator Romero. Democrats offered two term limited state representatives: Sydnie Mae Durand of St Martinville and Troy Hebert of Jeanerette. Republicans also had a strong candidate: Republican attorney/former Romero campaign manager Jeff Landry. Landry ran first in the primary with 36%, but lost to Rep. Hebert 51-49% in the runoff. Turnout clearly made the difference: while Landry carried St Martin with 52% (good for a Republican) and Hebert carried Iberia with 52%, the Iberia Parish vote accounted for 58% of the total in the primary and 68% in the runoff. Since that race, Landry has been elected to represent the district in Congress.

Though Troy Hebert likely could have been re-elected two more times without incident, a curious chain of events led to Republicans taking this seat (and ultimately numerical control of the Louisiana Senate): in early 2010, he changed parties to Independent, declaring that “…as a senator with friends on both sides, I just want to have the freedom to support either one when they have the best idea or solution.” He then decided several months later not to seek re-election to his seat. Several months after that, Governor Jindal appointed him Commissioner of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.

The Jindal appointments of Hebert and Senate colleague Nick Gautreaux created two special elections earlier this year. In the aftermath of the Democrats’ statewide losses, it was still surprising that the Democrats declined to contest this seat. While six candidates ran, the two front runners were state representatives who both recently switched parties: Fred Mills of Parks (in St Martin Parish) and Simone Champagne from Jeanerette (in Iberia Parish). Mills’ being the only candidate from St Martin Parish, as well as his popularity with voters there, enabled him to win in the first primary with 60% of the vote (Rep. Champagne received 19%). Not only did he score a near unanimous 89% of the vote in St Martin, but he also got 33% of the vote in Iberia Parish (we analyzed this race in detail here). His victory enabled Republicans to achieve parity with the Democrats in the Senate; shortly thereafter, the other nearby Senate vacancy was captured by the Republicans, enabling them to take numerical control of the Louisiana Senate – since then, two more Senate Democrats have switched parties. (UPDATED 9/9/2011) Rep. Mills is allowed to serve three more terms, and was unopposed in 2011.

Proposed District

In this part of the state, the challenge presented by redistricting was the fact that many of the adjacent districts were overpopulated. District 22 was itself 7% over the population of an “ideal” senate district, and had to shed some territory. The following changes were made which overall reduced the black voter registration from 31 to 26% and strengthened the Republican lean of the district: (1) removal of a 58% black (by voter registration) section of Iberia Parish around Jeanerette, (2) transferring three precincts (which were 63% black) in St Martin Parish near Breaux Bridge to a black majority district held by Democrat Elbert Lee Guillory, (3) addition of two precincts in Broussard (in Lafayette Parish), and (4) addition of the southeastern section of St Landry Parish, which includes Arnaudville and Krotz Springs. While these changes reduced the influence of St Martin Parish from 42 to 39%, the influence of Iberia Parish was also reduced from 58 to 52%.  (UPDATED 9/9/2011) Re-elections shouldn’t be difficult for Senator Mills; it will be interesting to see if the Democrats try to take this seat back in the future.