President-elect Donald Trump’s historic victory last month in the general election rocked America’s political landscape, but Jeremy Alford says it was the last-in-the-nation runoff ballot on Dec. 10 that has shaken up Louisiana’s elected class and established a few new mile markers for where our own politics are headed.
Alford says Republican John Kennedy’s election to the U.S. Senate “now places him firmly in the upper echelon of Louisiana influencers, where others are already wheedling for dominance.” Still, he says, it’s unclear exactly which kind of impact Kennedy will have.
“With (David) Vitter’s coming exit, and former Gov. Bobby Jindal gone, some party faithfuls are looking for a standard-bearer to serve as kingmaker and rainmaker,” Alford writes. “It may not be Sen.-elect Kennedy. It may not be anyone. There are numerous names to throw in the mix here, from the attorney general and lieutenant governor to your pick of congressmen.”
In East Baton Rouge Parish, Alford says, Democrats got to a crow a little bit to cap off a year that was dominated by Republicans.
“The parish elected as mayor former state Sen. Sharon Weston Broome—by a healthy 52%,” Alford writes. “That’s the exact same percentage East Baton Rouge gave to Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell in the U.S. Senate runoff, Hillary Clinton on the presidential ballot and President Barack Obama in 2012.”
Alford says Democrats have always focused heavily on Orleans Parish, which remains voter-rich for the party, and Caddo Parish.
“But this cycle shows that Red Stick could become a blue hub that flourishes in the coming years, making it all the more important for Dems in statewide politics,” Alford writes. “With two new congressman and a freshman U.S. senator about to be sworn in, and recent electoral trends taking root, it’s easy to see that some political dynamics in Louisiana are shifting ever so slightly. How it all ultimately shakes out will make for must-see politics in 2017.”
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
