BATON ROUGE, La. — Bayou State voters return to the polls tomorrow in runoffs to narrow the choices for two vacant U.S. House seats, with Democrats hoping to increase their national majority by taking a seat here.
Their best chance appears to be in District 6, where Rep. Richard H. Baker resigned in February. Mr. Baker narrowly won re-election in 1998 by fewer than 1,000 votes, and since Hurricane Katrina the demographics of the district — which includes Baton Rouge — have been tipped by a heavy influx of registered Democrats.
“This race will draw national attention,” said Bernie Pinsonat, a pollster with Southern Media and Opinion Research in Baton Rouge. “It’s going to be a battleground congressional seat that the Democrats feel they can win, and the Republicans, quite frankly, can’t afford to lose it.”
In the March primary, almost 50,000 people cast ballots for five candidates in the Democratic primary, while close to 30,000 voters chose among four Republican candidates.
The Democratic runoff opponents are state Rep. Donald J. Cazayoux Jr., 44, an lawyer from New Roads, who received 35 percent and state Rep. Michael L. Jackson, 42, a Baton Rouge lawyer, who received 27 percent.
Mr. Cazayoux, who is white, has the backing or organized labor. He is a former prosecutor who earned his law degree at Georgetown University. Mr. Jackson, vice chairman of the black caucus in the Louisiana House, could benefit from the influx of black voters in the district who relocated from New Orleans.
On the Republican side, former state Rep. Louis E. “Woody” Jenkins, 61, a weekly newspaper publisher who narrowly lost the 1996 U.S. Senate race to Democrat Mary L. Landrieu, received 49 percent of the primary vote. He is known for his social conservatism. His opponent is Laurinda L. Calongne, 43, co-owner of a health care and business consulting firm, who received 25 percent.
Mr. Pinsonat said Mr. Cazayoux and Mr. Jenkins have the edge in tomorrow’s runoff.
The other seat up for grabs is in suburban New Orleans.
District 1 Republicans will choose between state Sen. Stephen J. Scalise, 42, a computer systems engineer from Metairie, and state Rep. Timothy G. “Tim” Burns, 51, a tax attorney and CPA from Mandeville who has written three books on business and economics. The seat was vacated by Bobby Jindal, who became governor.
In the primary, Mr. Scalise led with 48 percent to Mr. Burns’ 28 percent of the vote. Both men are conservative and their campaigns have focused on local issues and exchanges of ethical accusations.
The winner will face Democrat Gilda Reed, 60, a psychology professor at the University of New Orleans. She won her nomination outright with 70 percent of the vote.
A special election for both seats is scheduled May 3.
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