INCUMBENT: Page Cortez (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: Senate District 23 is located in Lafayette Parish, and includes its higher income neighborhoods directly to the south and southwest of downtown Lafayette.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 77% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: Senate District 23 is one of the most affluent and Republican districts in the entire state, and it typically gives 4:1 support for Republican candidates in recently contested statewide races. But while this is an affluent and fast growing district (particularly in the southern fringes in and around Youngsville), the district has only relatively recently begun to vote for Republican legislators. In fact, it wasn’t until some black neighborhoods north of downtown were removed from the district after the 1991 reapportionment that a Republican was elected here. Since then, it has elected three Republican senators in a row, and the last two senators have both been promoted from the same state House district (House District 43) from southern Lafayette Parish. The current senator is Page Cortez, who sought the seat when his predecessor (Mike Michot) was term limited in 2011. In that election, Cortez was elected without opposition when no one qualified to run against him. Sen. Cortez is allowed to serve two more terms, and in this solidly Republican district  (Mitt Romney got 78% of the vote, while 80% voted for Bill Cassidy), he shouldn’t have any electoral prolems.