INCUMBENT: Ed Murray (Democrat)

DESCRIPTION: Senate District 4 is located in New Orleans and contains Lakeview and an area in and around the French Quarter. It then travels along the shores of Lake Pontchartrain to include portions of New Orleans East near the lake, all the way to Paris Boulevard.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

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

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: Senate District 4 is a district that saw considerable destruction from Hurricane Katrina a decade ago, and was 39% underpopulated when the time came to redraw the lines in 2011. As a result, the district now has a convoluted shape geographically, but is solidly Democratic, as its 61% black voter registration is joined by white liberals residing in the French Quarter, Midcity, and increasingly in Lakeview. However, it’s also worth noticing that a renewed interest in New Orleans as a place to live has begun to affect the district’s demographics: since the 2010 Census, the number of black voters has declined 15%, while the number of white voters has increased 1%, thus eroding the black voter majority from 65 to 61%. From a representation standpoint, the district has been represented by black Democrats since 1991, when this district was redrawn to have a black majority, and its current Senator is Ed Murray, who was elected in a December 2004 special election, and has been easily re-elected or unopposed since then. He is term limited this year, and while a black Democrat is favored to win this fall, the changing demographics of the district could make this a competitive seat in the future.