Louisiana’s 2nd congressional district, which encompasses North Baton Rouge and a large part of New Orleans, is what’s called a majority minority district. In this case, it’s predominantly black. Districts like this are required by federal law to protect minority representation, but ironically, it may be doing the opposite.
Somewhere in between all the marching bands and dancers and floats, there’s Congressman Cedric Richmond strolling in the Southern University Homecoming Parade, throwing candy and shaking hands. No big float, no loud music, just Richmond walking behind a car with a big campaign sign tacked to the front.
This is pretty emblematic of Richmond’s campaign - he doesn’t have to do a lot to get the support he needs.
Richmond, the only black member of Louisiana’s congressional delegation, is a valuable ally to state lawmakers like Representative Ted James. Richmond’s district and James’ don’t overlap, but James says Richmond looks out for him more than his own congressman in the sixth district, Bill Cassidy, who’s vacating his seat to run for senate.
"Our sitting congressman, I have no relationship with him," James says. "I have seen him running the LSU lakes because I know he lives there, I saw him at at McKinley High School because his son graduated. I don’t get an invitation to his community meetings, I don’t know where he stands on issues, I haven’t talked to him about issues that affect Baton Rouge."
James points to the near closure of the Emergency Room at Baton Rouge General’s mid-city campus in August. The ER, buckling under the weight of uninsured care, came close to shutting down before the state stepped in with an eleventh hour deal. Though the hospital falls within Cassidy’s district, he was silent during the ordeal. But, he’s been vocal about his opposition to the Affordable Care Act, including Medicaid Expansion, which would have eased the cost of care for the uninsured.
James says many of the candidates running for Cassidy’s congressional seat aren’t reaching out to him. The only candidate he’s heard from during this campaign is State Senator Dan Claitor.
"They aren’t seeking support from the African American community or they’re assuming that one of the candidates - the only Democrat in that race - will receive all of that support," James says.
“They aren't seeking support from the African American community or they're assuming that one of the candidates - the only Democrat in that race - will receive all of that support.”
Doctor William Arp, dean of Southern University’s school of political science says with all the minority voting strength isolated in the 2nd district, minorities in the 6th district are diluted. The black vote is essentially less powerful in the sixth district race, meaning there’s no incentive for an elected official to prioritize the concerns of minority voters.
"I think politicians are what you see is what you’re going to get," Arp says. "I think if I was running myself, I would pay more attention to where the majority of my constituents were."
District 2 includes the two highest concentrations of black voters in the state - a large chunk of New Orleans and much of North Baton rouge - connected by a sliver of mostly rural areas. This means that Richmond is constantly on the move. So much so that we were unable to get a hold of him for this story.
“All the community leaders do know Cedric, I can tell you that,” says State Representative Pat Smith.
She says Richmond balances his time between New Orleans, North Baton Rouge and Washington as best he can. But in some ways that’s not enough. Smith says in order for Richmond to truly be an effective lawmaker, he needs a coalition. Representative Ted James says that Richmond doesn’t necessarily need another Democrat to work with, just a colleague willing to work across the aisle. But, he says, that’s probably not going to happen.
"Cedric and Senator Landrieu, they need someone to work with, and you look at Vance McAllister; the Republican party, they were out for his head, not because he was caught kissing on camera, but because he worked with Democrats," James says. "Because he stood up when he campaigned and said 'You know what, Medicaid expansion is not that bad'."
In the event that Mary Landrieu is unseated, that would make Richmond the only Democrat in Louisiana’s delegation, on top of being the only black member of an otherwise all white, all male and all Republican coalition.