Updated
Updated · NOLA.com · Jul 21
Cleo Fields Quits House Re-election Bid, Targets Louisiana Senate Seat After 6th District Redraw
Updated
Updated · NOLA.com · Jul 21

Cleo Fields Quits House Re-election Bid, Targets Louisiana Senate Seat After 6th District Redraw

3 articles · Updated · NOLA.com · Jul 21

Summary

  • Cleo Fields said Tuesday he will not seek another term in the U.S. House and will instead run for the Louisiana state Senate seat he once held.
  • Louisiana lawmakers recently redrew his congressional district into one that heavily favors Republicans, undercutting his path to re-election.
  • The Baton Rouge Democrat is moving to fill the seat left open after Sen. Larry Selders, his successor in that chamber, died recently of a heart condition.
  • Fields now represents Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, which earlier reports said was dissolved after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling against it as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.

Insights

With states now redrawing election maps mid-cycle, what does this mean for the stability of American elections and voter representation?
After a key Supreme Court ruling, how can minority voting power be protected under the now-weakened Voting Rights Act?