INCUMBENT: Jim Fannin (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 13 is a rural district in north Louisiana that contains most of Bienville and Winn Parishes, all of Jackson Parish, and a single precinct in Ouachita Parish. This is a district that exemplifies the (formerly) heavily Democratic “solid South.”

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 64% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: House District 13 for many years had a split personality. While it typically voted Republicans in “top of the ballot races”, its rural character and 28% black voter registration gave the Democrats a strong electoral base that enabled them to win elections repeatedly without much in the way of Republican opposition. That has begun to change – Jim Fannin (who chaired the House Appropriations Committee under Governor “Bobby” Jindal) was elected in a 2003 special election as a Democrat and while he was left alone by the Republicans in 2003, 2007, and 2011, he switched to the Republican Party in July 2013, noting that “the Democratic Party is not where I am politically or spiritually.” Rep. Fannin is term limited, and in the race to succeed him, it will be interesting to see whether the Democrats seriously contest the seat. Given that the Republicans have never seriously contested this seat in a legislative election cycle (Rep. Fannin’s party switch occurred two years after his 2011 re-election), the extent of Republican preferences/sentiment at the legislative level has not yet been truly tested.