BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) 鈥� Democrat Cleo Fields has won Louisiana鈥檚 congressional race in a recently redrawn second majority-Black district, flipping a once reliably Republican seat blue.
His win marks a major victory for Democrats in a state where they will hold two congressional seats for the first time in a decade. This is only the second time in nearly 50 years that a Democrat has won in Louisiana鈥檚 6th Congressional District, where new political boundaries were drawn by lawmakers earlier this year.
Fields鈥� victory returns him to the U.S. House, which he was elected to in 1992, serving two terms. Since then, the 61-year-old state Senator has been a fixture in Louisiana state politics.
Under Louisiana鈥檚 open primary system 鈥� in which candidates of all parties appear on the Election Day ballot 鈥� Fields was able to avoid a runoff by getting more than 50% of the vote. He faced four other candidates, including Elbert Guillory, an 80-year-old Republican and former state senator. Incumbent GOP Congressman, Garret Graves did not seek reelection.
A new congressional map was used for the election, with boundaries crafted by the Republican-dominated Legislature earlier this year. The map restored a second majority-Black district to the state, a win for Democrats and civil rights groups after a nearly two-year legal and political battle.
The new 6th District boundaries stretch across the state in a narrow and diagonal path, from the state capital, Baton Rouge, to Shreveport in the northwest corner. Black residents account for 54% of its voters, up from 24% previously. Fields is Black.
A lower court ruled that the new map was an illegal racial gerrymander, but in May ordered Louisiana to use it in this year鈥檚 congressional elections 鈥� boosting Democrats鈥� chances of gaining control of the closely divided House.
In addition to the race in the 6th District, all five Louisiana congressional incumbents were reelected to another term 鈥� including U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise.
The Associated Press
