Chainkeen Exchange-Democrat Cleo Fields wins re-drawn Louisiana congressional district, flipping red seat blue

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Democrat Cleo Fields has won Louisiana’s congressional race in a recently redrawn second majority-Black district, flipping a once reliably Republican seat blue.

Fields’ win means Democrats will hold two congressional seats in the state for the first time in a decade. This is only the second time in nearly 50 years that a Democrat has won in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, where new political boundaries were drawn by lawmakers earlier this year.

Fields’ victory returns him to the U.S. House, which he was elected to in 1992, serving two terms. Since then, the 61-year-old state Senator has been a fixture in Louisiana state politics.

Under Louisiana’s open primary system — in which candidates of all parties appear on the Election Day ballot — Fields was able to avoid a runoff by getting more than 50% of the vote. He faced four other candidates, including Elbert Guillory, an 80-year-old Republican and former state senator. Incumbent GOP Congressman, Garret Graves did not seek reelection.

The new congressional map used for the election was crafted by the Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year with support from new Republican Gov. Jeff Landry after a Supreme Court decision that upheld a new majority Black district in Alabama. The new Louisiana map restored a second majority-Black district to the state, a win for Democrats and civil rights groups after a nearly two-year legal and political battle. It also greatly reduced chances for reelection of Graves, who had supported another Republican instead of Landry in last year’s governor’s race.

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The new 6th District boundaries stretch across the state in a narrow and diagonal path, from the state capital, Baton Rouge, to Shreveport in the northwest corner. Black residents account for 54% of its voters, up from 24% previously. Fields is Black.

A lower court ruled that the new map was an illegal racial gerrymander, but in May the Supreme Court ordered Louisiana to use it this year as the time for congressional elections drew near — boosting Democrats’ chances of gaining control of the closely divided House. But the future of the district remains in question. The high court agreed on Nov. 4 to hear arguments that could determine whether the new map is used in future elections.

In addition to the race in the 6th District, all five Louisiana congressional incumbents were reelected to another term — including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.