Democrats look to longtime state Sen. Cleo Fields to flip Louisiana congressional seat blue

BATON ROUGE, La. -- Poised to flip a once reliably Republican congressional seat in Louisiana, Democrats’ are placing their hopes with state Sen. Cleo Fields, who has been a fixture in state politics for more than three decades and is looking to return to Congress.

Political experts say the path to Washington seems to be paved for Fields as he runs in a recently redrawn 6th District, which became the second majority-Black district in the state. Its makeup favors a likely Democratic victory, swaying GOP incumbent Rep. Garret Graves not to seek reelection.

Fields, 61, has quickly gained the endorsement of the Louisiana Democratic Party and amassed a significant financial advantage on the campaign trail.

“Cleo is the clear frontrunner in this race,” said Robert Hogan, chair of Louisiana State University’s political science department. “Simply given his financing for the campaign, his statewide name recognition and the fact that he is a prominent African American who has gotten a lot of attention for his work in the Legislature.”

But Hogan also noted that Fields' prominence is linked to “some negative stuff,” an old scandal that opponents have been quick to point to: Specifically, a grainy FBI video from 1997 showing Fields handling a bundle of money in former Gov. Edwin Edwards ’ office.

The recording was used as evidence in Edwards’ 2000 federal corruption trial, in which Fields was named as an unindicted co-conspirator but was not charged with any crime. Edwards was convicted of accepting payoffs from riverboat casino applicants and spent eight years in prison.

Quentin Anthony Anderson, a political newcomer and Democrat who is running against Fields, brought up the scandal when qualifying for the election earlier this month. The executive chairman of a social justice nonprofit said that among things voters should consider this election cycle are “who we are as Louisiana” and “what politics we want to project on a national stage.”

“Do we want to harken back to the ‘vote for the crook’ era of Louisiana politics, or do we want to move forward?” Anderson said.

Fields was unavailable for an interview, but his campaign said in a statement that he “has been vetted by the voters of this state many times.” Fields has long said that he did not violate any laws, that he returned the money and that he was not a public official when the recording was made.

While some question Fields' integrity, others point to his continued success at the polls — he has been elected to the state Senate four times — and wonder if a nearly 30-year-old scandal will have an impact election day.

“It may matter to me, but I don’t know that it will matter to others or if people know or remember it,” said Republican state Rep. Michael T. Johnson, who had considered running for the congressional seat.

Fields, who currently represents Baton Rouge, entered politics when he was just 24 by winning election to the Louisiana Senate. He was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992 and served two terms.

At the time, Louisiana had two majority-Black congressional districts. After the electoral map for Fields' district was thrown out as an unconstitutional gerrymander, he opted not to seek reelection.

In January of this year, lawmakers passed a new congressional map restoring 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.

A lower court ruled that the new map was an illegal racial gerrymander, but in May the Supreme Court ordered Louisiana to use it in this year’s congressional elections — boosting Democrats’ chances of gaining control of the closely divided House.

“I think that it was unjust that years ago the district was redrawn to, essentially, draw him out of the seat,” said Democratic state Rep. Edmond Jordan, who has endorsed Fields and chairs the Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus. “It is time to right a wrong.”

Republicans have thrown their support behind Elbert Guillory, 80, a former state senator who is the only GOP candidate. Noticeably absent from the campaign is the incumbent, Graves, who announced last month that he would not seek reelection.

Joining Fields, Anderson and Guillory in the race are two lesser-known Democrats, Wilken Jones Jr. and Peter Williams. Under Louisiana’s open primary system, candidates of all parties appear on the same ballot Nov. 5, and if no one gets 50% of the vote, the top two finishers advance to a Dec. 7 runoff.