INCUMBENT: “Andy” Anders (Democrat)

DESCRIPTION: House District 21 is located in the Mississippi River Delta and includes all of Concordia Parish, as well as parts of East Carroll, Madison, and Tensas Parishes. The district was reconfigured in 1991 to have a black majority.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 60% Democratic

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: House District 21 has long been a Democratic district, due to its 57% black voter registration, although with the strong racial polarization that is present in the Delta, the Democratic margins here are solely dependent on the intensity of black voter turnout. Despite the intent of those drawing the lines, however, the district has always elected white Democratic legislators. The current representative is Democrat Andy Anders, who was first elected in a 2006 special election in the runoff with 60% of the vote. In 2007, he was re-elected with 62%, while in 2011, he increased his percentage again to 69%. He is allowed to serve one more term, and probably is a safe bet to win re-election, although with recently increasing black turnout (blacks were 49% of the district electorate in the 2010 midterms and 57% of those who voted in the 2014 midterms), he could get another black opponent.