INCUMBENT: Jody Amedee (Republican)

DESCRIPTION: Senate District 18 is located at the edge of the Baton Rouge metropolitan area, and includes parts of three parishes: most of Livingston Parish south of I-12, most of the east bank of Ascension Parish except for some black majority neighborhoods along the Mississippi River/in Gonzales, and parts of the east bank of Saint James Parish.

DISTRICT MAP:

District Map

RED/BLUE RATING (using 2008, 2012, and 2014 elections): 72% Republican

JMCEL’s SUMMARY: Historically, the River Parishes were a Democratic stronghold, due to the combination of blacks and blue-collar workers employed by the numerous petrochemical plants in the area who once had strong union Democratic sympathies. That changed two decades ago, as the outward movement of the Baton Rouge metropolitan area (undoubtedly helped by the reputations of the Ascension and Livingston Parish public school systems) crossed the East Baton Rouge Parish line into both Ascension and Livingston parishes.

As this suburban migration brought a Republican voting constituency to Prairieville in Ascension Parish two decades ago, voter attitudes among those who grew up in Ascension and Livingston Parishes began to trend Republican as well, and what was solidly Democratic turf started voting increasingly Republican for Presidential candidates starting in 2000, and for Republican statewide candidates shortly thereafter. A good illustration of this trend would be the percentages Senator Mary Landrieu received here the last three times she was on the ballot. While she failed to carry the district, she received 44% of the vote in 2002, 39% in 2008, and 27% last year in her losing race against Bill Cassidy.

As Republican voting habits became more commonplace in “top of the ballot” races, Republican candidates became more competitive in legislative races as well, although that process took longer in this district, because before 2011, it contained all of Ascension Parish, as well as all of Saint James and parts of Saint John Parishes. That pre 2011 incarnation of the district elected populist Democrats for years, and even when the district last had an open seat race in 2003, the Republican vote was split, causing two Democrats to make the runoff, with Jody Amedee winning with 52%, thanks to a strong Democratic vote from Saint James Parish.

Senator Amedee managed to get re-elected without opposition in 2007 despite the district’s continued shift towards the Republican Party, although in early 2011, he switched to the Republican Party. As he did this, the district changed considerably after reapportionment: it had to shed a considerable amount of territory because of its rapid growth, and as a result, many Democratic precincts were removed, and the district’s black voter registration plunged from 26 to 11%, and the district became 10-15% more Republican as a result of the new district lines. Senator Amedee was unopposed for re-election in 2011, but is term limited out this year, although given the district’s increasing Republicans complexion (75% voted for Mitt Romney, while Bill Cassidy received 73% of the vote), a Republican will almost certainly be elected this fall.