Incumbent – Rickey Hardy (D – Term Limited in 2019)

District Map

House District 44

Vote History

Current Distrct

There were two events which were pivotal in terms of blacks gaining sufficient numbers in both houses of the Legislature to become political players: the advent of single member districts and the 1991 reapportionment, which created about 10 new black majority districts.

One of those districts was House District 44 in Lafayette. Before 1991, black neighborhoods in Lafayette (generally an area of east of Evangeline Thruway, south of I-10, and north of the Lafayette airport) were split between two House districts. This changed in 1991, as those neighborhoods were consolidated into one district, and additional territory to the north and west of the I-10/I-49 interchange was added as well.

This is a district with a solid black majority (68%, which is an increase from 64% a decade ago) that reliably turns in 3 to 1 Democratic margins. This reliability also extends to its steady legislative representation: only two black Democrats have represented the district since 1991. When the district was reconfigured in 1991, Democrat Wilfred Pierre was elected, and served until term limits forced him to retire in 2007.

In the open seat race to succeed Rep. Pierre, five candidates sought this seat. This race turned out to be an interesting test of the popularity of black politicians who focused on monoracial appeals and confrontation, as opposed to those who appealed to a broad cross section of voters. Chris Williams, who had Rep. Pierre’s endorsement, clearly offered the former from his years of tenure on the Lafayette Parish Council, while School Board member Rickey Hardy received endorsements from Republicans like Parish President Joey Durel and Congressman Charles Boustany. In this case, the less confrontational approach was the more popular one – Rickey Hardy won 56-44% in the runoff by receiving an estimated 85% of the white vote and 40% of the African-American vote. Rep. Hardy is allowed to seek two more terms.

New District

Strong population growth in Acadiana enabled a new black majority district to be drawn just to the east in the Bayou Teche area of St Martin and Iberia parishes. Furthermore, District 44 was only 3% under populated. So only minor changes were made. Three precincts east of Louisiana Avenue (which were 76% black) were moved over to the new black majority district, while two precincts (which were 33% black) between East Pont Des Mouton and Gloria Switch Road were added from District 39 (represented by Bobby Badon). These changes reduced the black voting majority from 68 to 63%, but the district will certainly elect black Democrats, particularly like those who (in 2007, anyway) demonstrated the ability to build a biracial coalition like Rep. Hardy did in that race.