Dems Flip Red Louisiana District That Hasn't Elected a Full-Term Democrat In 50 Years

Following a redrawing of district lines, the Democratic Party was able to win the seat for the representative of Louisiana's 6th Congressional District for the second time in 50 years.

Louisiana State Sen. Cleo Fields won the district. He previously represented the state's 4th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1993 to 1997, as reported by the Associated Press.

Fields won more than 50% of the vote in the district, eliminating the need for a run-off election. His win signifies the first time Louisiana has had two Democratic representatives in the House in about a decade. He emerged victorious against 80-year-old Elbert Guillory, a Republican and former state senator, as reported by AP.

Earlier in this election cycle, Black voters in Louisiana levied a legal challenge against the state's congressional map in stating that it deliberately undermined their representation, hence violating the Voting Rights Act. They pointed out that only one district in the state hosted a majority-Black population despite a third of the state's population being Black.

A resulting district created by the state legislature stretched from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, hosting a population that is 54% Black.

Fields was able to run to represent the district after the district he previously represented was dissolved by a different redrawing of the map.

Originally published by Latin Times.