Duplessis, Freeman and Landry expected to run for Senate seat to replace Carter Peterson
19th April 2022 · 0 Comments
By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing Writer
On Thursday, April 14, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin set the election to replace State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson for November 8, 2022, to coincide with the Congressional election cycle.
The former La. Democratic Party chair and recent congressional candidate shocked the Baton Rouge political world by abruptly resigning the previous week, with no warning even hours before. She claimed mental health challenges dealing with her gambling addiction as the cause, but subsequent news of a federal probe may have had more to do with her departure.
As a result of Carter Peter-son’s resignation, The Louisiana Weekly has learned that three state representatives are leaning towards running for the open District 5 Senate seat – two Caucasians and one African American. State Reps. Aimee Adatto Freeman, Mandie Landry and Royce Duplessis are all leaning towards a bid. The contest of these neighboring representatives could prove the most interesting of the year – as it will occur before the new redistricting maps come into force on January 1, 2023. As a result, the historically Black Senate district for which they may all contend, will for a short time – just until two months after the election – enjoy a white majority.
In fairness, gentrification had already given Senate District 5 a slight to bare Caucasian plurality. When Carter Peterson ran for re-election for a third term in 2019, demographic data had suggested that the seat was 46 percent white to 45 percent Black. Even then, Carter Peterson herself said to this newspaper that if her district had not already approached a Caucasian majority, gentrification had already had such an impact. Recent Census data settled the argument suggesting that the current demographics of District 5 do cross the 50 percent threshold. That was one of the arguments that neighboring Republican Sen. Cameron Henry used to draw out the university area of Uptown out of Carter’s District 5 into his seat – over her loud objections.
Until January 2023 at least, the current District 5 lines begin with a small sliver of Jefferson Parish, in the historically Black Shrewsbury/New Harlem neighborhood, and then cross into Orleans Parish to encompass most of Hollygrove and extend all the way on both sides of Tulane Ave. to the CBD. The seat also stretches out to encompass most of the Treme neighborhood, but excludes the French Quarter to the south. Otherwise, District 5 generally runs up to the Mississippi River. The exception is Uptown south of St Charles Ave. and to the west of Jefferson Ave. Uptown north of St. Charles Ave. to Jefferson Ave. was where Henry succeeded in changing the lines of the seat most drastically. And if he had failed, Aimee Freeman might have seen more of her state rep. seat remain in District 5 over the long-term. For the rest of 2022, however, the university-area remains in District 5. That is also the neighborhood in which Freeman herself lives, and that’s part of the reason that this contest may become a three-way match – with a Caucasian majority deciding the victor.
At present, Senate District 5 stops short of the river near the parish line at Zimple for a six blocks, and then runs along Pearl St. for eight more (so that most of the Black Pearl neighborhood along the river sits in Cameron Henry’s seat), and then runs along the north side/lake side of St. Charles Ave., with only the Richmond Place neighborhood and its surroundings excluded from District 5. Everything else Uptown was represented by Karen Carter Peterson, all the way to the Lower Garden District. That’s what changed.
Cameron Henry represented Audubon Park and wanted the other side of St. Charles Ave., all the way to Jefferson Ave. He especially craved to include Tulane and Loyola universities and their environs within District 9 seat. He maintained that the change would both unify the university-area neighborhoods of Uptown, fulfilling the mandate to create geographically cohesive seats – and would have the side effect of providing Carter Peterson’s District 5 with better Black-white parity in its electorate’s demography.
Carter Peterson countered that Henry just wanted the university-area neighborhoods because his sister lived there, and she was his designated successor as senator. Henry did not respond to the charge, but as he was succeeded in his former House District 82 seat by his brother Charles (for a short time), the nepotism charge was not too disbelieved by each’s senatorial colleagues.
Regardless, Henry won the university neighborhoods in February’s redistricting fight, which bifurcated House District 98. That 68 percent Caucasian-majority Democratic-seat encompasses most of Uptown. Its borders mostly rest within District 5 (save for the neighborhoods around Audubon Park), and its incumbent Aimee Adatto Freeman lives on the lake side of St. Charles Ave. – which means that she will not be resident in Senate District 5 after January 1, 2023. (Still, much of her House seat will remain within it in the new year.)
Here is where the timing of Carter Peterson’s resignation makes all the difference: She quit early enough in 2022 that Sec. of State Ardoin could call an election before this year’s end to elect her replacement. That gave Freeman a window of opportunity. When asked by this newspaper if she would be a candidate this fall for the Senate, Freeman replied, “I’m honored to serve La. District 98, and am considering a run for La. Senate District 5.” And, currently, she is residentially-qualified for it.
Elected in 2019, Adatto Freeman has long been a political player in Orleans politics, and her surname even longer. She partially self-financed her House bid, and could easily assemble a huge campaign war chest for a quick Senate campaign. Adatto Freeman also enjoys the reputation of a hard campaigner, not unwilling to trade “shoe-leather” for votes, knocking on every door possible. She has maintained strong constituent relationships since her election three years ago as well as earning praise for her legislative accomplishments. That combination would stand as an unmatchable position, if only her main challenger was not also legendary for her campaigning skills and legislative reputation.
Rep. Mandie Landry did not initially hold the “favorite” status in her District 91 bid in 2019, but her relentless campaigning and progressive stands caught the imagination of her Garden District-to-Central City constituency. A Caucasian who won election in a Black-majority district, she has become a leader amongst Democrats in the House, an amazing achievement in just her first term in office. And while most of the House seats of her two likely senatorial opponents sit within Senate District 5, the lines of her entire House district fall fully in this Senate seat. While all three candidates fall ideologically within the mainstream of the Democratic Party, Landry has become something of a standard-bearer for progressives.
Landry also has strong fundraising contacts, though they pail before the range-and-breath of Freeman’s circle. When Rep. Landry told The Louisiana Weekly that she “was leaning towards a run,” both polling and fundraising were cited as considerations. Nevertheless, a battle royale would occur if the two Caucasian Democratic reps both qualified, as they each indicated that they might. However, neither of them is Royce Duplessis.
The rising star of the Legislative Black Caucus, the District 93 state representative combines strong campaign skills with an encyclopedic knowledge of policy. His legislative initiatives have brought considerable press attention, and arguably, Duplessis is as well-known in his district as either Freeman or Landry, possibly better known.
Duplessis may also be aided by the perception that District 5 remains a Black-majority seat, even as it now has a bare Caucasian majority. Neighborhoods like the Irish Channel have undergone massive gentrification, but Central City remains majority Black, as does Hollygrove, Gert Town, Broadmoor and Treme. There will be a fight to elect an African-American candidate, to keep the tradition going. That benefits Duplessis.
The likely low turnout in November, however, does not.
African Americans in New Orleans have gone to the polls in numbers proportionally equal to or exceeding the levels of Caucasian turnout in recent years. However, that often occurs in a presidential year, or if there is a major contest topping the ballot. Though the congressional cycle will grab national media attention, there are no contested U.S. House races in Louisiana, and not much else on the Orleans ballot besides initiatives, millages, and constitutional amendments.
Unexciting election days generally spawn low turnout amongst African Americans, which most observers would suggest benefits Freeman or Landry. The veteran political consultant James Farwell does not number among them, though. Having managed many races in the Uptown area (as well as around the nation) Farwell suggests, “Race may not play much of a role in this election.”
Noting the strong Democratic lean of the Uptown area, he explained to The Louisiana Weekly, “The Upper East Side of New York voted 90 percent for Hillary Clinton. Uptown voted 92 percent.” Noting that all three candidates espouse similar liberal/progressive stands, Farwell believed the contest will come down to personality, not ethnicity. “Race is not that important a factor for these voters [in District 5]…whites vote for Blacks. Blacks vote for whites.”
Nevertheless, the University-area of Uptown remains in Senate District 5, at least through the November elections (and a December runoff if needed). The educated population of that part of Uptown, as well as the neighborhoods stretching to the Garden District, tend to constitute a high-turnout electorate even in low turnout elections. These chronic voters may opt to vote for their own Representatives for the open Senate seat. This proverbial home-court advantage benefits Freeman and Landry, the latter of whom proved already that a Caucasian candidate can win a Black-majority seat. Duplessis will face the dual challenge of convincing Black voters across Senate District 5 to turnout to the polls on his behalf, whilst still earning the ballots of the Caucasian electorate within his House district – who have supported him in the past.
This article originally published in the April 18, 2022 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.
