Cleo Fields raises over $600,000 for La. congressional race

By Julie O’Donoghue
Contributing Writer

(lailluminator.com) — State Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, has raised more than $600,000 for his congressional bid since announcing his campaign in late January, according to a federal campaign finance report filed on Thursday, April 4.

Fields is running in Louisiana’s newly-redrawn 6th Congressional district, which stretches from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, picking up portions of Alexandria and Lafayette. It’s the second and newest majority-Black seat on the state’s Congressional map, which Fields and his colleagues in the state Legislature approved in January.

A campaign finance report shows most of Fields’ donations come from individuals ($564,000) with a smaller portion coming from political action committees ($39,000). It covers the period from January through March 31.

It’s unclear if Fields will face an opponent in the November race for Congress. No other major Democrats have announced their intention to run. The current 6th District congressman, Republican Garret Graves, would have a difficult time winning reelection because the lines of the district now favor a Democratic candidate.

Fields, who previously served in Congress in the mid-1990s, said his campaign will focus on education issues, raising the federal minimum wage, job creation, public safety and rural issues.

The state senator benefited from a confluence of factors that put him in the right place to run a strong campaign.

A federal judge ordered Louisiana to create a second majority-Black congressional district to better reflect the demographics of the state. To comply with the ruling, one of Louisiana’s five Republican U.S. members’ districts had to be converted into a Democratic-leaning seat.

Graves, who is based in Baton Rouge, became the obvious target. He doesn’t see eye to eye with Gov. Jeff Landry and appears to have a strained relationship with U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, two of the most powerful Republicans in the state.

Fields and Landry created an unusual political alliance, and the governor was willing to go along with creating a map that ousted Graves.

Fields may still face legal hurdles, however. Voters have challenged the Louisiana congressional map in case that goes to trial early next week. If their challenge is successful, the district where Fields is running could be eliminated.

That’s what Graves is hoping for. He has said he will run for his seat again, but he also appears to assume the latest congressional map will be thrown out and his district will be restored.

This article originally published in the April 8, 2024 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.