INCUMBENT: Johnny Guinn (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 37 is a primarily rural district in southwest Louisiana that contains all of Jefferson Davis Parish as well as the part of Calcasieu Parish east of Wardline Road.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 67% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: The epicenter of Louisiana’s changing politics has been in districts like this that voted for Democrats up and down the ballot, but quickly changed to a solidly Republican preference almost simultaneously in Presidential, statewide, and legislative races. To illustrate, a district that gave former Senator Mary Ladnrieu a critical 53% of the vote in 2003 only gave her 29% of the vote last year. In legislative races, this was once a solidly Democratic district until its last legislator (“Blade” Morrish, who is now its state senator) switched parties after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita (the latter had a much more substantial impact in this part of the state). When term limits forced him out in 2007, his successor was Republican Johnny Guinn, who was victorious in the runoff by only 26 votes and was unopposed in 2011. He is allowed to run for one more term, and given the partisan trends in the district, he shouldn’t have re-election problems.