INCUMBENT: Jay Morris (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 14 is located in northeast Louisiana and contains the northern portions of Ouachita Parish, as well as the western half of Morehouse Parish. This district is a mixture of higher income “old money” neighborhoods close to downtown Monroe, its northern suburban fringe, and small towns/rural areas both in Ouachita and Morehouse Parishes.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 75% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: House District 14 is technically two House districts that were merged during the 2011 reapportionment, as the creation of a second black majority district between Monroe and Bastrop resulted in the merger between a Morehouse-based district and a Monroe-based district. The Monroe district (which was District 16 before 2011) included Monroe’s highest income/closer in neighborhoods and first elected a Republican (Kay Katz) in 1999, but she was term limited out in 2011. The Morehouse district (which, incidentally, was District 14 as well) included the northern fringes of Ouachita Parish, as well as portions of East Carroll, Morehouse, and West Carroll Parishes. This was a more rural district that voted Republican at the top of the ballot, but voted Democratic (with little incident) at the legislative level until 2007, when Republican Sam Little was elected in the runoff by 9 votes. When the two districts were combined, this clearly became a Monroe based district, as 80% of the vote came from Ouachita Parish. In this configuration, Rep, Little was at an electoral disadvantage, and he lost the runoff 59-41% to fellow Republican Jay Morris, despite carrying his home parish (Morehouse) with 80% of the vote. Rep. Morris is allowed to serve two more terms, and should have no problems with re-election, given that the district is pretty heavily Republican (Cassidy got 76% of the vote here last year, as did Mitt Romney).