Before heading to the floor during the first few days of the Democratic National Convention last week, state Sens. Gary Carter and Ed Price would often have lunch together in their hotel. They shared stories about family and golf and the politics of the upper chamber in Baton Rouge when not networking or catching up with familiar faces.
Carter, a delegate, and Price, a credentialed guest of the state party, have unique perspectives on the transition Democrats are facing in Louisiana. If all goes as expected this cycle, the next term will host a second Louisiana Democrat in the U.S. House of Representatives, due to redistricting. The change in the 6th Congressional District, anchored by Baton Rouge, would also likely give the state its second membership in the Congressional Black Caucus.
Price has been an elected official for more than four decades, kicking off his service roughly around the same time William Jefferson was elected in 1980 as the first Black congressman since Reconstruction. That was when Louisiana had eight seats in the House. Over time, Price watched seats disappear alongside the population, until the 2010 Census left the congressional delegation with just six members.
In 2016, Carter was elected for the first time to the state Legislature. He had an enviable viewpoint to watch his uncle, Congressman Troy Carter of New Orleans, make his way from the state Senate to the 2nd Congressional District in 2021. Since then, Troy Carter has been Louisiana’s lone Black voice (and lone Democratic voice) in the delegation. Today, he’s also second vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Among many others, consultant Telley Madina of New Orleans, the president of Madina Group Consulting, visited with Price and Gary Carter as delegates and others readied themselves for the Convention floor this week. In a later interview, Madina explains that for decades the delegation’s lone Black member has been the only place some Black residents feel they can turn, regardless of their congressional district.
Adding a second member would help spread out the workload, Madina says, but it could also inspire more young people from communities of color to get involved in politics as Democratic professionals. More representation means more opportunities.
New Orleans consultant Ike Spears agreed when asked about the coming shift, saying, “You immediately double the number of congressmen who are fighting for the underserved communities in Louisiana.”
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
