Louisiana Democrat won’t run for reelection after redistricting

Rep. Cleo Fields (D-La.) announced on Tuesday he would not be running for reelection in Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District after GOP-led redistricting made his seat more Republican.

“After a great deal of prayer and reflection, I have decided not to seek re-election to Congress, in the 6th District or any other district in Louisiana,” Fields said in a statement. 

“Instead, I will be running to fill the unexpired term for the State Senate in the 14th District. I feel my calling to serve the people is better put to use back home than here in D.C., and I intend to answer that call,” he added. 

Fields, a first-term lawmaker who represented a swath of the state that stretched diagonally from northwest to southeast, opted not to run for another term after the Supreme Court issued a decision in April that paved the way for Republicans to redraw their congressional map this cycle. 

That’s despite the fact that an earlier Supreme Court decision in 2023 had originally paved the way for Louisiana Republican lawmakers to draw a second Black-majority House district after striking down Alabama’s House map, which only included one Black House district.

The nonpartisan election handicapper Cook Political Report rates Fields’ new district as “solid Republican.”

The candidate filing deadline for Louisiana congressional candidates is Aug. 7 to accommodate for new changes to the House map.  

Both Republicans and Democrats have redrawn congressional maps across the country as the two parties have sought to add pickup opportunities for the House after November. Republicans are poised to likely pick up seats in Alabama, Louisiana, Tennessee, Florida, North Carolina, Texas, Ohio and Missouri.  

Meanwhile, Democrats are expected to net some seats in California in addition to a court-ordered redistricting that happened in Utah.  

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