Incumbent – Patrick Williams (D – Term Limited in 2019)

District Map

House District 4

Vote History

Current District

In Caddo Parish, new black majority districts were created after the 1971, 1981, and 1991 redistrictings. House District 4 was created after the 1991 redistricting. It is an elongated district that is anchored in the northwest fringe of Shreveport along I-220, while also incorporating nearby rural areas along the Red River between Shreveport and Gilliam.

This is a district with a solid black majority: 70% of its voters are black, which is an increase from 62% in 2003. It is a solidly Democratic district, although the white neighborhoods along Cross Lake, in Blanchard, and along the rural precincts provide a small Republican voting base.

For aNorth Louisianadistrict, there have been some surprisingly competitive races here. When the district was created in 1991, civil rights activist C.O. Simpkins was elected in the runoff. He unsuccessfully ran for the state senate in 1995, and was replaced by Cedric Glover. Glover served for over a decade, and left in 2006 when he was elected the first black mayor of Shreveport.

In the special election to replace Glover, Patrick Williams (who ran against Glover in 2003) was elected, and was elected to a full term in the fall of 2007. He is allowed to serve two more terms.

New District

While there was some question as to whether an additional black majority district could be drawn in Shreveport, District 4 had almost exactly the required population, and only minor changes were made to the district. These changes removed the rural northern fringe, and centered the district along I-220 (all in all, six precincts were traded among neighboring districts). While the changes slightly reduced the black voter registration from 70 to 68%, this is still a heavily Democratic district that will re-elect Rep. Williams, or another black Democrat. (UPDATED 9/8/2011) Rep. Williams was re-elected without opposition in 2011.