Open Seat (Incumbent is Rosalind Jones (D))

District Map

House District 17

Vote History

Current District

House District 17 is located in the southern part of Monroe, and has been a black majority district since 1980. It has an 88% black voter registration, which has been relatively constant throughout the decade. Politically, it is a solidly Democratic district that routinely turns in 90% Democratic performances.

This is also a district that has had stable House representation. C.D. Jones was the first black Democrat to be elected to this seat, and he served for three terms – he left in 1991 to be elected to a newly created black majority Senate district between Monroe and the Mississippi River Delta. Rep. Jones was succeeded by Willie Hunter, who served for four terms before term limits forced him to retire. Since Senator Jones was also term limited in 2007, Rep. Hunter unsuccessfully attempted to run for the open seat; instead, white Democrat Francis Thompson was successful.

In the open seat race to succeed Rep. Hunter, C.D’s daughter Rosalind was elected in the primary, and would have been eligible to serve two more terms, but chose to retire after one term.

New District

Reapportionment in Monroe meant that a new black majority seat was created between Monroe and Bastrop. Politically, this was a politically painless move, because Rep. Kay Katz (who represented Monroe) was term limited. To create this district, a set of 88% black precincts north of I-20 near the airport was placed in the redrawn District 16. Since the district was 10% underpopulated, this meant that the district had to expand across the Ouachita River into West Monroe. Precincts between the Ouachita River and Bawcomville which were 29% black were removed from District 15 (represented by Republican Frank Hoffmann) and added to the district. These changes did dilute the black voter registration from 88 to 69%, but this district should have no problem electing a black Democrat to replace Rep. Jones.