Girod Jackson, III (D)
Term limited in 2019
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 6,927 (85%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 1,267 (15%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 6,975 (76%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 2,222 (24%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 2,664 (19%)
John Kerry (D) 11,030 (80%)
Others 81 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 2,397 (19%)
Chris John (D) 5,674 (44%)
Others 4,875 (37%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 274 (11%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 1,486 (60%)
Mike Francis (R) 106 (4%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 463 (19%)
Others 138 (6%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 1,478 (24%)
Walter Boasso (D) 1,364 (22%)
John Georges (I) 2,694 (44%)
Foster Campbell (D) 430 (7%)
Others 142 (3%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 4,056 (73%)
Mike Strain (R) 816 (15%)
Wayne Carter (R) 472 (8%)
Don Johnson (R) 209 (4%)

The Westbank of Jefferson Parish has generally been settled by blue-collar whites and African-Americans. The latter demographic reality was recognized after the 1991 reapportionment, when an African-American majority district (the first one ever in Jefferson Parish) was created in the Westbank.

House District 87 is shaped like a hook, and twists around Marrero, Harvey, and the Harvey Canal all the way to the Intracoastal Waterway to pick up African-American majority neighborhoods along the way. It currently has a 75% African-American voting majority, which is up from 72% several years ago. It has gained voters at less than the statewide rate, with farther out neighborhoods (areas south of LaPalco) growing faster than the statewide rate.

Democrats have little to worry about here: the district regularly turns in Democratic margins from 75-80% of the vote. Mary Landrieu’s New Orleans origins enabled her to do even better: she received 85% of the vote here.

Unlike other districts in the New Orleans area, there has been some turnover in the districts representation. Ever since a white incumbent Democrat was defeated in the 1991 runoff 59-41%, four African-American Democrats have represented the district since then. This turnover, however, is mainly due to the officeholders’ seeking higher office. Kyle Mark Green served for three terms and was re-elected comfortably, then left to run unsuccessfully for the Jefferson Parish Council in 2003. His successor, Derrick Shepherd, left after a year to run successfully for a vacant state Senate seat (he is now running for Congress against scandal-tainted incumbent William Jefferson). He was succeeded in 2005 by Terrell Harris, who was elected in the primary with 67% of the vote last year.

Given the electoral history of the district, plus Rep. Harris’ solid majority in his initial race, he would have had little trouble retaining the seat in 2007, but he and another challenger withdrew from the race after qualifying, leaving Democrat businessman Girod Jackson III the representative-elect.

We see modest impact to the district due to the hurricanes. Hurricane Katrina brought wind, rain, power outages, and some displacement, but Jefferson Parish started its recovery process fairly early and quickly. The greatest damage actually came from storm surges spawned by Hurricane Rita that affected the southernmost portion of the district. However, we have noticed that District 87 has lost about 500 voters since the storms, which we see as part of a broader trend of out migration from Orleans and Jefferson Parishes.