INCUMBENT: Clay Schexnayder (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 81 contains parts of Ascension, Livingston, Saint James, and Saint John parishes. This is a district that has a working class tone to it, although suburbanization from Baton Rouge and (to a lesser extent) New Orleans has helped change the underlying political tone of the district.

DISTRICT MAP:

District map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 65% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: A generation ago, District 81 was a Democratic bastion with strong populist sentiments, and accordingly strongly supported Democrats like Edwin Edwards and (former senator) John Breaux, while in Presidential contests, the district was more evenly split if the Democratic nominee was perceived to be too liberal. Recently, changing voter attitudes and the development of more affluent subdivisions (particularly the Pelican Point subdivision in Ascension parish) has brought a more Republican constituency into the district. Similarly, the district’s legislative representation changed as well. When the district was created in 2003, Republican “Mert” Smiley (who is now the Assessor of Ascension  Parish) was elected in the runoff with 54% over a Democrat due to his popularity in the Ascension Parish precincts. When he vacated the seat in 2011 to run for Assessor, the lone Democratic candidate in the race could only get 26% of the vote (20% in Livingston and Ascension). The victor in that race was Clay Schexnayder, who is allowed to serve two more terms, and the continuing Republican trend in the district (Cassidy carried the district with 65% of the vote) should provide him with some extra electoral lift.