INCUMBENT: J. Rogers Pope (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 71 is located in Livingston Parish and contains the most suburbanized parts of the parish, as it is centered in and around the Baton Rouge suburbs of Denham Springs, Walker, and adjacent areas to the north and south of Denham Springs along the Amite River and LA 16.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 82% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: 1995 was the first election cycle where Republicans gained a noticeable presence in the state legislature; before that, their representation was generally confined to higher income neighborhoods in the larger cities like Baton Rouge, New Orleans, and Shreveport. And it was arguably House District 71 that was the epicenter of this initial “switchover”, as more middle income districts (particularly in the Florida Parishes) that voted Republican in Presidential and/or statewide races stubbornly continued to elect Democrats until 1995. And even in the middle of the GOP tide that year that also elected a Republican governor, the Democratic incumbent still received 48% of the vote. Since then, however, three Republicans have been elected from this district with relative ease (the first two were subsequently promoted to the state senate), and the current incumbent, Republican J. Rogers Pope, is in his second term. He is allowed to serve one more term, but given the strong Republican preference (both Cassidy and Romney got over 80% of the vote) of Baton Rouge suburbanites who have crossed the Amite River, Rep. Pope should have an easy re-election.