Jonathan Perry (R)
Term limited in 2019
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 6,120 (54%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 5,239 (46%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 11,652 (66%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 6,063 (34%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 11,392 (60%)
John Kerry (D) 7,313 (38%)
Others 346 (2%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 7,383 (41%)
Chris John (D) 8,844 (49%)
Others 1,825 (10%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 1,200 (17%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 1,477 (20%)
Mike Francis (R) 3,757 (51%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 443 (6%)
Others 428 (6%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 6,785 (47%)
Walter Boasso (D) 3,231 (22%)
John Georges (I) 2,498 (17%)
Foster Campbell (D) 1,722 (12%)
Others 342 (2%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 6,377 (46%)
Mike Strain (R) 5,776 (42%)
Wayne Carter (R) 862 (6%)
Don Johnson (R) 801 (6%)

House District 47 includes the swampy coastline of southwest Louisiana. It contains all of Cameron Parish and most of Vermillion Parish except for the eastern and northern fringes. It has a small and stable (13%) African-American voting population, most of which lives in Vermillion Parish around the town of Abbeville. It has lost 2% of its voters since 2003, with losses in both parishes.

This District almost always supports Democrats, particularly if they’re based in Acadiana. While New Orleans native Mary Landrieu received 54% here, Kathleen Blanco received an impressive 66% of the vote, and Chris John outpolled David Vitter here by 49-41%. In 2004, however, the district seemed to move to the right, as Chris John’s victory here was overshadowed by the fact that George Bush carried the district 60-38% (Bush also carried the district in 2000), and in the open Congressional race, Charles Boustany carried the district with 54% of the vote. These twin Republican victories were especially impressive when you consider that the last time the area voted Republican for President was during the 1984 Reagan Republican landslide.

The District has also supported its incumbents: since 1979, Democrats Sam Theriot and Mickey Frith have been its only representatives. Theriot had little trouble being re-elected; when he retired in 1995 to successfully run for Clerk of Court, Democrat Mickey Frith was elected in the runoff with 53%, Since then, he has been comfortably, but not overwhelmingly – his highest re-election percentage was the 64% he received in 2003.

Representative Frith is term-limited in 2007 and unsuccessfully ran against incumbent Senator Nick Gautreaux. Replacing him was assistant district attorney (and Republican) Jonathan Perry, who received an impressive 55% of the vote in the primary, with equal percentages in both parishes.

Southwest Louisiana was in the northeast quadrant of Hurricane Rita and received quite a bit of wind damage and storm surge. The storm surge essentially wiped out Cameron Parish, and displaced a lot of people in southern Vermillion Parish. As a result, Cameron Parish has lost about 600 voters, or 8% of its registered voters, while Vermillion Parish has registered a 2% loss in its voter population.