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Lawmakers scramble for new positions

Section: Politics

Bill Barrow

If this were Washington, D.C., state Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads would be the presumed speaker of the House when the new Legislature convenes.

But this is Louisiana, and that means the legislative runoffs that left Cazayoux's fellow Democrats with a razor-thin majority in the House did not stop the angling for the speaker's gavel and other leadership spots.

Republican Rep. Jim Tucker of Algiers continues to claim victory in the speaker's race, even as Cazayoux insists that it's not over. An aide to Republican Gov.-elect Bobby Jindal said the incoming administration is polling new House members "to see if there is a consensus." Jindal has said that he does not want to hand-pick the Legislature's leaders, as many governors have done in the past.

The scramble stems both from the Legislature's history of nonpartisanship and the GOP's newfound momentum, highlighted by election returns that validated GOP speculation that the party would benefit from term limits that went into effect for the first time this fall, opening dozens of seats in a body that Democrats have dominated numerically since the 1870s.

The outcome, followed by the leadership team that the new speaker installs, will help determine whether voters see any real changes in a legislative process historically driven less by partisan divides and more by alliances defined by geography, personality, particular issues and members' loyalty to -- or fear of -- the governor.

With Saturday's runoffs, Republicans pulled almost even in the 105-member House. Complete but unofficial returns show 53 Democratic seats, 50 for Republicans and two for independents. Democrats held a 60-44 advantage with one independent in the 2007 House.

As expected, term limits had a less noticeable effect in the 39-seat Senate, where Democrats posted a 24-15 advantage, essentially unchanged from the upper chamber's lame-duck roster.

"We're thrilled we still have a majority," said Katie Nee, spokeswoman for the House Democratic Caucus.

Yet Cazayoux conceded that his speakership is not certain. Tucker said he has nearly all of the incoming Republicans and enough Democrats and independents to surpass the 53 votes needed to become speaker.

Promises of bipartisanship

Both candidates have praised the idea of a bipartisan leadership team and portrayed themselves as consensus-builders. But recent interviews with the two men and several other House members suggest that Republicans are far more unified in their backing of Tucker than Democrats are of Cazayoux.

Rep. Karen Carter, a New Orleans Democrat, is backing Tucker publicly. Rep. Juan LaFonta, chairman of the Black Caucus, said he is supporting Cazayoux but that several other black Democrats besides Carter are in Tucker's camp.

Cazayoux and Tucker said they spent Sunday talking with newly elected members.

"It's close," Cazayoux said. "I expect this will continue to play out."

Tucker said he expects a resolution in the next few days.

Sen. Joel Chaisson II, D-Destrehan, has already stood alongside Jindal to announce that he has enough votes to be elected Senate president. He has promised a bipartisan distribution of committee chairmanships and indicated that a Republican could serve as chairman of the upper chamber's budget-writing committee.

Pearson Cross, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said lawmakers are likely to conduct themselves in a civil, bipartisan manner "during Jindal's honeymoon period," particularly because they will deal with issues such as ethics and business tax repeals "where there was a clear mandate."

But Cross said such accord is not likely to last the four-year term, as lawmakers haggle over budgets and redrawing district lines for the Legislature and for Congress, a contentious prospect if Louisiana loses a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"Hurricane Katrina was the first storm, then term limits, and then redistricting," Cross said. "They have an incentive to protect incumbents. That's something that both parties can agree on. .¤.¤. But I expect some very bitter fights when it comes to redistricting on those seats that could go either way. I don't see any way around it. It's an inherently political thing."

Gains and losses
The two parties split evenly in the Saturday runoffs that pitted a Democrat against a Republican, with each party claiming eight of the 16 House matches and two of the Senate matches.

Republicans scored their House gains largely by outperforming Democrats in the chamber's 45 seats opened by term limits: 29 held by Democrats, 16 by Republicans. Democrats lost nine of the seats they were defending, eight to Republicans and one to independent Jerome Dee Richard, who defeated Democrat Michael Matherne in the 55th District.

Republicans, meanwhile, reclaimed 14 of the seats they were defending, a record made even more impressive when considering that one of the Democrats' two take-aways was in the 95th District, where Rep. Alex Heaton of New Orleans was never elected as a Republican but switched parties. Two Republican House victories were excruciatingly close. Sam Little beat Democrat Buddy Quinn by nine votes in the 14th District, and Johnny Guinn defeated Democrat Kyle Reed by 26 votes in the 37th District.

Newcomers blocked two former legislators, one from each party, from a return to the Capitol. Bobby Badon defeated former legislator Raymond "LaLa" Lalonde in House 39th District. John Smith beat fellow Democrat Buddy Leach in Senate 30th District.

Dorothy Sue Hill denied Sen. James David Cain, R-Dry Creek, a return to his old House 32nd District post. Cain was barred from seeking another term in the upper chamber, just as Hill's husband, Herman Ray Hill, was restricted from a fourth term in the House seat that his wife won. Sen. Noble Ellington, D-Winnsboro, had better fortunes, winning the House 20th District runoff against fellow Democrat "Cleve" Womack. Ellington, barred from a fourth Senate term, held the seat previously.

Term limits had a much less drastic affect on the partisan make-up of the Senate.

Sixteen Senate desks -- eight from each party -- were opened because of the new restrictions. Each party successfully defended six of its seats and relinquished two. Rep. A.G. Crowe, R-Slidell, reclaimed the Senate 1st District seat in the primary, giving the GOP a seat it had won in 2003 with Walter Boasso.

Combined, the results return the Senate to the same breakdown of 24 Democrats and 15 Republicans that the chamber had before Boasso switched parties to run for governor as a Democrat.

The only two incumbent lawmakers to lose in either chamber were Democrats. Chris Hazel dispatched Rep. Rick Farrar of Pineville in the 27th District primary. Challenger Joe Harrison topped Rep. Carla Blanchard Dartez of Morgan City to claim the 51st District seat in the runoff.

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