Jack Smith (D)
Term limited in 2007
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 5,233 (51%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 4,929 (49%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 7,175 (62%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 4,472 (38%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 8,542 (54%)
John Kerry (D) 7,065 (45%)
Others 203 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 6,767 (46%)
Chris John (D) 5,017 (34%)
Others 2,985 (20%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 1,339 (22%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 1,611 (26%)
Mike Francis (R) 2,248 (36%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 579 (9%)
Others 441 (7%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 4,908 (48%)
Walter Boasso (D) 2,813 (28%)
John Georges (I) 1,378 (13%)
Foster Campbell (D) 742 (7%)
Others 382 (4%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 4,886 (52%)
Mike Strain (R) 2,960 (31%)
Wayne Carter (R) 1,066 (11%)
Don Johnson (R) 556 (6%)

If there were one legislative district that best fit the stereotype of Louisiana, it would likely be District 50, as it contains swamps, plantations, sugarcane, and the oil industry. House District 50 itself contains St. Mary Parish west of the Atchafalaya, plus small portions of Iberia and lower St. Martin Parishes. It contains a high (35%) African-American population and its voting population has slightly decreased over the current decade.

District 50 is the kind of district that can be counted on to support Democrats in closely contested races, particularly south Louisiana Democrats. It voted narrowly (51%) for Mary Landrieu and gave a larger (62%) share of the vote to Kathleen Blanco. However, the district moved to the right in 2004, with George Bush receiving 54% of the vote, and David Vitter’s winning a surprising (49-36%) margin in last year’s Senate race despite Chris John’s being from South Louisiana.

The District normally supports its incumbents: since 1971, only V.J. Bella and Jack Smith have represented the area. The one contested race was in 1987, when V.J. Bella was running for re-election as a Republican (he had switched parties in 1984) against Jack Smith, and was re-elected with only 51%. When he resigned in 1991, Jack Smith succeeded him, and has never been re-elected with less than the 64% of the vote he received in 1995.

Representative Jack Smith is term-limited in 2007. The current demographics and past electoral performance of the district would lead us to rate this district as a “Democratic hold”, and three Democrats filed to run: Franklin Mayor Sam Jones, Franklin Councilman At Large Kenny Scelfo, and Berwick attorney Allen McElroy.