INCUMBENT: Bryan Adams (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 85 is located in the Westbank of Jefferson Parish and includes the suburbs of Gretna and Terrytown along Belle Chasse Highway.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 52% Democratic

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, the city of New Orleans suddenly lost a lot of its population. Despite conventional wisdom that the entire city packed up and moved to Atlanta or Houston, quite a few stayed in Louisiana, moving either “up the river” to Baton Rouge, or “across the river” to the Westbank, which comparatively saw less hurricane damage than New Orleans did. These relocations had a noticeable demographic impact, as the district’s black voter population steadily increased from 27% in 2000 to 38% by the time reapportionment came around in 2011. Reapportionment added some Terrytown precincts to the district and removed some precincts south of Lapalco Boulevard, and these changes reduced the black voter registration to 33% (it is 35% today). Still, that increasing black voter population has changed the political leanings of the district, as it gave 55% of the vote to George W Bush a decade ago but only 50% to Mitt Romney – and Mary Landrieu received 55% of the vote in last year’s runoff. These changes have barely registered, however, in legislative races. In fact, the district has had steady representation from Republicans ever since a former legislator switched parties in 1990. The current legislator is Republican Bryan Adams, who was elected in the 2011 primary with 57% of the vote against a fellow Republican. He is allowed to seek two more terms. While Westbank incumbents typically haven’t had re-election problems, the velocity of the demographic changes is something Rep. Adams needs to be aware of, as he is one of a handful of Republican legislators whose districts have a large Democratic voting bloc.