INCUMBENT: Harold Ritchie (Democrat)

DESCRIPTION: House District 75 is located in the corner of the state in the Florida Parishes and contains all of Washington Parish east of the Bogue Chitto River, as well as two precincts in Saint Tammany Parish north of the Bogue Chitto.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 59% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: House District 75 is a district with a split personality: it has begun to vote Republican in statewide races (in fact, it has a perfect record for picking the statewide winner for President, Governor, and Senator since 2002), yet it has never elected a Republican state representative. This is partially due to two things: (1) a 31% black voter registration, which gives any Democratic candidate a solid head start in local elections, and (2) Republicans have never seriously contested this seat. The current incumbent is Harold Ritchie, who was first elected in 2003, was re-elected without opposition both in 2007 and 2011, and is term limited. This will be a politically competitive race in the fall – this is the kind of seat Republicans must win if they want to have a supermajority in the House, and there are about a dozen white Democrats in the House who continue to hold similar seats: Republican friendly in statewide elections, yet stubbornly supporting Democratic legislators.