INCUMBENT: Steve Pugh (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 73 contains the southern portion of Tangipahoa Parish (roughly everything south of I-12) and is centered on Ponchatoula. This is a district that epitomizes the rapid suburbanization of the I-12 corridor between Baton Rouge and Slidell, and its politics have accordingly changed as well, as a district that once elected “old style” Democrats now elects business friendly Republicans with little incident.

DISTRICT MAP:

District map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 71% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: As Republicans reached a critical mass in the state Legislature in the mid 1990s, District 73 was one of the pacesetters, ousting an “old style” Democrat 51-49% in the 1995 runoff. Since then, Republicans have had little trouble holding onto the seat, and as suburbanization from New Orleans and Baton Rouge pushes the district further to the right, Steve Pugh (its current representative) should have little trouble winning another term, and he is allowed under term limits to seek one more term.