INCUMBENT: Joel Robideaux (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: House District 45 is located in the southwestern section of Lafayette in Lafayette Parish, and contains a mixture of middle and some upper income neighborhoods. The district itself is adjacent to, but does not include, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 71% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: Even though Lafayette is a Republican metropolitan area, this district has supported Republicans in contested statewide races, but has been slow to elect Republican in state house races. This partially has been because of the caliber of the legislators this district has had. For this was the district that between 1983 and 1988 that launched the political career of former Governor Kathleen Blanco. She resigned in 1988 upon her election to the Public Service Commission, and in the open seat race in early 1989, Jerry Luke LeBlanc (whose father served before Blanco in this seat) was easily elected in the runoff, and served without opposition until his resignation in 2004, when former Governor Blanco tapped him to be Commissioner of Administration. In the 2005 special election race to succeed Rep. LeBlanc, even though the Republican candidates in the race garnered 62% of the primary vote, Independent Joel Robideaux defeated a Republican in the runoff with 55% of the vote, and was unopposed in 2007. In 2011, he decided to switch to the Republican Party the week before qualifying, and defeated an Independent that fall with 79% of the vote. While he is term limited out this year, this seat will almost certainly be filled by another Republican, as Mitt Romney and Bill Cassidy got 72 and 74% of the vote here.