Incumbent – Robert Johnson (D – Term Limited in 2019)

District Map

House District 28

 Vote History

Current District

House District 28 is located in Central Louisiana and includes all of Avoyelles Parish – one of only two state House districts to cover an entire parish. While Avoyelles Parish is mostly South Louisiana Cajun, a portion of the parish is north of the Red River, and that portion is white Protestant.

Avoyelles Parish has historically been a “swing parish” for races at the top of the ballot: in the 25 elections held for President, Senate, or Governor since 1980, Avoyelles only voted for the loser once: it supported David Duke in the Senate race against J. Bennett Johnston. It probably doesn’t hurt that there is a mixture of Catholic and Protestant, and a stable 26% black voter registration in the parish.

However, at the local level, Avoyelles Parish/District 28 has always supported Democrats in legislative races, although that may be changing as well. From 1972 to 1992, Raymond Laborde was its representative. He never had re-election worries, but he resigned in 1992 to become the Commissioner of Administration during Edwin Edwards’ final term. His successor was attorney Charles Riddle. Ironically for someone representing the boyhood home of Edwin Edwards, Riddle became a member of the “young Turks”, which opposed the Edwards administration on various matters. His opposition got him labeled as an obstructionist from the former governor, and probably contributed to the 59% of the vote he received when he ran for his first full term in 1995. Once Edwards faded from the picture after 1995, Riddle was unopposed in 1999, but he left in 2002 to become District Attorney of Avoyelles Parish. He was succeeded by Democrat Monica Walker, who only served until 2007.

Four candidates ran for the open seat, and attorney Robert Johnson defeated Republican teacher/police juror Kirby Roy in the runoff 53-47%. This was one of several races that at the time kept Democrats in numerical control of the state House (that majority ended after several Democrats switched parties in the wake of the 2010 elections). This was an impressive showing for a Republican in a historically Democratic parish like Avoyelles, and may be a sign that the “old politics” are changing here. Representative Johnson is allowed to serve two more terms.

New District

Reapportionment in Avoyelles Parish was simple: the district was 3% under populated, and was left alone – Avoyelles Parish is still synonymous with District 28. While Rep. Johnson shouldn’t have trouble with re-election, the fact that Avoyelles has a nearly perfect record of voting with the statewide winner, combined with growing Republican strength in down ballot races, means that a Republican could win here at some point.