INCUMBENT: Ronnie Johns (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: Senate District 27 is located in Calcasieu Parish and includes the urban core of Lake Charles, as well as the adjacent suburbs of Moss Bluff to the north and Sulphur to the west. This is a district where the vote is cast in the Lake Charles precincts and the suburban precincts to the north and west are about equal to each other.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

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

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: Senate District 27 is a district located in southwest Louisiana that includes both the inner city of Lake Charles and some of its most conservative suburbs (Moss Bluff and Sulphur). This demographic mixture also has a 33% black voter registration and (historically) a union friendly blue collar voting base that is employed by the petrochemical plants in the area, which ultimately results in a district that once was a Democratic district, but today is politically marginal.

Historically, the Lake Charles area could be counted on to vote Democratic because of its moderate black population concentrated in the city of Lake Charles, as well as a unionized blue collar voting demographic. However, Republicans were always somewhat competitive here at the top of the ballot, and Democratic issue stances on social and environmental issues have somewhat tarnished the Democratic voting brand here, to the point that Calcasieu Parish pretty consistently votes Republican in statewide and most legislative races.

The district’s Senate representation has been somewhat varied, as it has been represented by Democrats of various political ideologies. The most recent state senator was former Lake Charles Mayor (and Democrat) Willie Mount, who was easily elected here in 1999 when the seat opened up, and she served here for three terms without opposition in 2003 or 2007. When she was term limited in 2011, Republican (and former state representative) Ronnie Johns was elected without opposition, which is highly unusual for a Republican in a marginal district like this. Senator Johns is allowed to serve two more terms, and given that this district has a substantial Democratic voting base in the inner city Lake Charles precincts (David Vitter, Mitt Romney, and Bill Cassidy all got 54% of the district vote in the last three elections), Senator Johns can expect that the Democrats will vigorously contest the seat.