Mike Danahay (D)
Term limited in 2019
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 4,932 (47%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 5,528 (53%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 5,855 (50%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 5,848 (50%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 11,464 (65%)
John Kerry (D) 5,982 (34%)
Others 190 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 8,697 (50%)
Chris John (D) 6,919 (40%)
Others 1,624 (10%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 770 (18%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 1,192 (27%)
Mike Francis (R) 1,723 (40%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 288 (7%)
Others 344 (8%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 5,359 (56%)
Walter Boasso (D) 1,692 (18%)
John Georges (I) 1,122 (12%)
Foster Campbell (D) 1,248 (13%)
Others 192 (1%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 3,697 (40%)
Mike Strain (R) 3,646 (39%)
Wayne Carter (R) 1,224 (13%)
Don Johnson (R) 716 (8%)

Calcasieu Parish, which contains Lake Charles, is a parish of anomalies. It is a petrochemical hub noted by John Maginnis as having “a rough and tumble hardhat mentality, what Baton Rouge would be without the greening influences of LSU or state government.” Yet its unionized population, while generally voting Democratic for national and statewide races, also votes for a generally conservative legislative delegation.  Its state House delegation is 3-1 Republican.

District 33 includes the portion of Calcasieu Parish west of the Calcasieu River, plus two precincts in Beauregard Parish. Though it contains a significant number of petrochemical employees, the Democratic areas actually are further out in the rural portions of Calcasieu Parish. Bush carried this 93% white district by a 2:1 margin, and Republicans recently have carried the district in contested races.

Its legislative representation has been fairly steady, with members of the Stine family (Dennis, then Tim) as its representatives for 8 years. Insurance agent Ronnie Johns succeeded the Stines. Since winning with 62% of the vote in 1995, John has run for reelection unopposed, not even drawing an opponent after his switch to the Republican Party in 2003.

Given the district’s voting trends and historical representation, we would normally rate this seat as a likely Republican hold. However, while an unprecedented number of Republicans ran for the state house this year, there were a handful of districts, such as District 33, where no Republicans could be found to run for the seat. In fact, the lone Democratic candidate, Calcasieu Parish Police Juror Mike Danahay, received no opposition at all. It certainly helped that he had Rep. Johns’ support. However, while this was a loss for the Republicans, Rep. Johns noted that “I don’t think you’ll see an ounce of difference in our philosophies in both fiscal and social agendas.”