A.G. Crowe (R)
Term limited in 2019
District Map

2002 Senate Race (Runoff)
Mary Landrieu (D) 14,804 (46%)
Suzy Terrell (R) 17,000 (54%)

2003 Governors Race (Runoff)
Kathleen Blanco (D) 17,274 (42%)
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 23,554 (58%)

2004 Presidential Race
George W. Bush (R) 33,641 (65%)
John Kerry (D) 17,530 (34%)
Others 447 (1%)

2004 Senate Race
David Vitter (R) 31,363 (63%)
Chris John (D) 9,914 (20%)
Others 8,553 (17%)

2006 Secretary of State Race
Jay Dardenne (R) 2,913 (29%)
Francis Heitmeier (D) 3,023 (30%)
Mike Francis (R) 1,285 (13%)
Mary Chehardy (R) 1,627 (16%)
Others 1,108 (11%)

2007 Governors Race
“Bobby” Jindal (R) 12,016 (50%)
Walter Boasso (D) 7,702 (32%)
John Georges (I) 2,882 (12%)
Foster Campbell (D) 965 (4%)
Others 307 (1%)

2007 Agriculture Commissioner Race
“Bob” Odom (D) 8,865 (39%)
Mike Strain (R) 10,026 (45%)
Wayne Carter (R) 2,688 (12%)
Don Johnson (R) 968 (4%)

Senate District 1 contains all or part of four parishes: all of St. Bernard Parish, Plaquemines Parish except for the area around Belle Chasse, a precinct in Orleans Parish in the Lake Catherine area, and a part of St. Tammany Parish that encompasses the eastern and northern fringes of Slidell.

Demographically, the district is mostly white working class. It has a low African-American voting population of 15%, which is up from 11% several years ago, with similar percentage increases in the African-American voting population in all parishes. Though this district would seem to be the “St. Bernard district”, St. Bernard Parish actually casts only 47% of the district’s vote. The district’s portion of Plaquemines Parish casts another 14%, and the remaining 38% of the vote is cast in St. Tammany (Orleans Parish’s portion of the district is one tiny remote precinct). There was modest growth in the district’s voting population before Hurricane Katrina hit, since then, the massive exodus of voters from St. Bernard Parish have caused the district to lose 15% of its voters since Katrina – the biggest percentage loss of any state Senate district.

Overall, Senate District 1 favors Republicans in contested statewide races, but not overwhelmingly, thanks to the mild Republican preference of St. Bernard Parish voters. This mild preference is somewhat augmented by the St. Tammany precincts; even though this is the “more Democratic” portion of the parish, it still gives 60-70% support to Republicans in contested elections. The Orleans Parish portion favors Republicans, but its one precinct is too small to make much of a difference in the results. Finally, the district’s portion of Plaquemines Parish mildly prefers Democrats in statewide races, since the more Republican Belle Chasse precincts were placed in Sen. Francis Heitmeier’s district.

Despite the Republican tendencies of the district in statewide elections, they’ve only recently begun to win elections here. For 26 years, St. Bernard Parish Democrat Sammy Nunez represented the area and served as the Senate President for all but 2 years from 1983 until 1995. He was defeated in the 1995 runoff 54-46% by Republican Lynn Dean. Sen. Dean received strong Democratic opposition in 1999, and was only victorious in the runoff with 53% of the vote – in both cases, his margins in St. Bernard Parish were his key to victory. Sen. Dean retired in 2003, and was replaced by another Republican, Walter Boasso, who was victorious in the runoff with 61% of the vote. While his 64% in St. Bernard was a contributing factor, the 65% he received in the recently added portion of St. Tammany Parish added to his victory margin.

Though Sen. Boasso could have served until 2015 under the state’s term limits laws, he vacated the seat to run for Governor unsuccessfully as a Democrat. He was succeeded by a Republican from St. Tammany Parish, state representative A.G. Crowe. Though Rep. Crowe was at a geographic disadvantage, he defeated a term-limited Democrat from St. Bernard Parish 52-48% by carrying the St. Tammany precincts 3 to 1.

Senate District 1 was in the bulls-eye of Hurricane Katrina, as it made initial landfall in Plaquemines Parish and traveled up through St. Bernard Parish. In its wake, virtually all of Plaquemines Parish and most of the district’s portion of St. Tammany Parish was inundated by the storm surge, while St. Bernard and Orleans Parish received extensive flooding, wind damage, and (in the case of St. Bernard) an oil spill from a local refinery. The extent of this damage has resulted in heavy population losses, but those losses have varied, because some areas, like St. Tammany Parish north of I-12, did not flood.

Overall, there is an apparent movement of people from St. Bernard to St. Tammany Parish, which probably helps the Republicans in contested elections. It’s worth noting, however, that those registering to vote in St. Tammany since the storm have been almost entirely Independents.