INCUMBENT: Helena Moreno (Democrat)

DESCRIPTION: House District 93 is centered in downtown New Orleans and contains most of the city’s recognizable landmarks, like the French Quarter, the Superdome, the Crescent City Connection, and parts of Saint Charles Avenue. As with most of New Orleans, this is a district filled with contrasts, with both high and low income neighborhoods in close proximity to each other.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 87% Democratic

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: One of the implications of the destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina was the massive amount of rebuilding, and in the process, New Orleans was also “rediscovered” by those who had always admired its charms. And the epicenter of this “rediscovery” was District 93. While it already had pockets of affluence in and around the French Quarter and Saint Charles Avenue, the area in between (as well as other parts of the district) saw new residences getting built and/or existing places’ being renovated. The sum total of these activities naturally had an impact on the district’s demography. A decade ago (i.e., before Katrina hit), the district had a 69-24% black voter majority; today, the district is 58-35% black, as the white voter population has since 2004 increased 11%, while 37% of the black voter population present in 2004 no longer resides in the district (curiously, the velocity of these demographic changes almost exactly mirrors what happened in neighboring District 91 (represented by Walt Leger)). The impact of these demographic changes has been mixed: politically, this remains a solidly Democratic district, as many of the new residents are politically liberal. It is the district’s representation that has changed. For years, this district was only represented by black Democrats until 2010, when its last occupant (Karen Carter Peterson) vacated the seat upon her election to a vacant state senate seat. In the special election to succeed her, six candidates filed to run, and despite having Peterson’s endorsement in the runoff, the black candidate (James Perry) lost any momentum he might have had from the primary when it was revealed that he had numerous parking and traffic violations, including driving without insurance and a valid driver’s license. And even though Perry brought up preferential treatment issues related to an accident his opponent (newscaster Helena Moreno) was involved in, he lost the runoff to Moreno 56-44%. It was the racial breakdown of the runoff vote that illustrated the changing politics of post Katrina New Orleans: in the black precincts, he went from 35 to 76% support between the primary and the runoff, while in the white precincts (this is where the legal issues clearly hurt), his support plunged from 35% in the primary to 20% in the runoff. Low black turnout hurt as well. Reapportionment was thought to make Rep. Moreno’s 2011 re-election more difficult, as the black voter registration was increased from 47 to 61%, although Moreno was unopposed that year. She is allowed to serve two more terms, and is probably safe, although the district’s black voter majority means that she could still get a black challenger in an election (technically, Rep. Moreno is Hispanic).