INCUMBENT: Mike Johnson (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 8 is a suburban district in Bossier Parish that includes most of Bossier City north of I-20 and all of the suburban development that has occurred along Benton Road between Bossier City and Benton.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 73% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: House District 8 is one of several districts that switched to the Republican Party in the 1995 GOP wave that also elected a Republican governor, and this district has comfortably stayed in Republican hands since then. Curiously, each of the recent occupants of this seat (Robert Adley, Bob Barton, Jane Smith, and Jeff Thompson) has sought another elected office to varying degrees of success, and it was the election of Jeff Thompson to a district judgeship in November 2014 that created an open house seat which Republican attorney Mike Johnson was automatically elected to this spring when no one filed to run against him. He is allowed to serve for three more terms starting with the fall elections and should have little trouble getting re-elected.