November 13th , 2026 Len’s Political Note #854 In Louisiana the election is not over
Chauna Banks. Pat Moore
Louisiana 06. Louisiana 05
On November 3, Louisiana held primary races for Congressional Districts. The Supreme Court had ruled in April, 2026 that the state’s effort to create a second majority minority district in response to a lower court ruling was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander.
Louisiana’s response was to redraw the Congressional map. The Congressional map was redrawn so there was only one majority minority district. That map was signed into law at the end of May. The original election schedule had called for May 16 party primaries with top two runoffs on June 27 if no candidate received more than 50% in the primary. In further response to the late creation of new maps for the Congressional election process, Louisiana reverted, for the 2026 Congressional election only, to an all-party top-two primary. The primary would occur during the general election on November 3 and the top two election would be delayed until December 12.
On November 3
District 1: Incumbent Republican Steve Scalise defeated a second-place Democrat 61-34 and was re-elected
District 2: Incumbent Democrat Tony Carter defeated a second-place Republican 80-15 and was re-elected
District 3. Incumbent Republican Clay Higgins defeated a second-place Democrat 55-21 and was re-elected.
District 4. Incumbent Republican Mike Johnson defeated a second-place Democrat 59-23 and was re-elected
District 5: Democratic State Rep Pat Moore led second-place Republican State Rep Gabe Firment 17.9 to 17.1 as they each achieved the top two spots for the December 12 run off.
District 6: Democrat former Metro councilor Chauna Banks led second-place Republican State Senator Blake Miguez 19.4 to 18.8 as they each achieved the top two spots for the December 12 run off.
Chauna Banks for Louisiana 06
The 6th Congressional district is the district that was redrawn so that it was no longer majority minority. The incumbent Cleo Fields withdrew from the race after deciding that running for reelection from this district was fruitless. A Black man could not win. Cleo Fields did not foresee the 2026 Blue Wave that was so powerful it even reached the South.
Despite the redraw, despite Cleo Fields withdrawal, the newspaper The Illuminator reported that Chauna Banks “a Black Democrat, finished first Tuesday in the [November 3rd] primary – 665 votes ahead of Republican State Senator Blake Miguez.” She surged from third place to first place toward the end of the count, when 90% of the votes were counted. East Baton Rouge did the trick.
Did the very quick redraw of the district maps leave a large number of voters, white or Black, in the East Baton Rouge Parish ready and willing to vote Democratic? According to an out of state report that broke down the Louisiana Senate votes by Parish, In the Congressional primary on November 3, Democratic candidates received more than 107 thousand votes in the primary to the Republicans 100,000. It is not clear to me whether Jamie Davis carried Congressional District 06 in the US Senate election. He received 49% of the vote, losing the race by 2 points. Democrat and received 40,000 more votes in East Baton Rouge Parish than did the Incumbent. So Chauna Banks could win this election.
Chauna Banks is a 1983 computer science major and graduate of Southern University and A&M College from which she also received a Master’s degree in mental health counseling. In 2006, she was hired as a school counselor by the East Baton Rouge school system where she is now the coordinator of work-based learning. Elected to the Metropolitan Council that oversees the City of Baton Rouge and the city of Baton Rouge, she took office in 2013 and served for 12 years. In 2025, she created her own consulting firm.
Jobs, quality education, healthcare access are what Chauna Banks advocates first in her website. She wants to bring new industry and new technologies to the state, including even data centers, so long as the hiring is local, training is made available, small business opportunities are available, and the necessary infrastructure is created. She would ensure that electrical and water resources required for industry does not adversely affect residents. Education that prepares local youth in the technology required for jobs in new industry she sees as crucial. Appropriate to someone from a state that has been battered by nature, she also wants a more effective FEMA.
Chauna Banks claims no specific achievements as a member of the Metro Council. Instead, she says she received an education in what the region needs in order to thrive. She has not always been an easy person to work with. Most of her conflicts went nowhere. And when headlines said she was interrogated by the Feds, it became clear she was not a target. Indictments were obtained against a former mayor and his cronies. Chauna Banks was a witness.
Chauna Banks’ opponent is Republican state senator Blake Miguez. Before his election, he was a parish (county) chief administrative officer. He has excelled in his hobby – shooting and has had a focus on culture wars. He took the lead in ensuring that schools in Louisiana were not accommodating to gays. He was endorsed enthusiastically by Donald Trump, an endorsement that was not retracted when, a few days after it was announced, a 20 year old police report surfaced about a then 22 year old woman’s claim that Miguez locked her in a room, abused and raped her and, when she escaped, followed her. He denied the accusation then and still denies it. Oppose him, not because of this accusation, but because he was endorsed by Trump, because he wants to prohibit conversations about sexuality at any grade in public schools, because he is a MAHA as well as a MAGA.
DONATE to Chauna Banks’ campaign. She needs your help. On October 14, Miguez reported he had $1.5 million. Chauncy Banks made no financial reports, presumably because she has not raised money for this campaign. She needs money now – between today and December 12.
Pat Moore for Louisiana 05
Pat Moore is from Monroe, Louisiana. She went to Northeast Louisiana University which was then a business school. She studied for two years, got a job with State Farm Insurance, and completed her degree studying part-time. She was with State Farm for 27 years before she switched her focus to public service. In 2007, she was elected to the local Police Jury (the County Council) and stayed for 12 years. In a 2019 special election, she became a State Rep. She was unopposed in general elections in 2019 and 2023.
Pat Moore is strikingly appealing in her approach to politics. She emphasizes listening to her constituents. She is clear about what she is working on. She is lucid in her statements. She introduces her issues: “I’m listening. And these are the things I’m prepared to work on in Congress”:
Helping Working Families Get Ahead. Working people shouldn’t do everything right and still feel like they’re falling behind. I will work to lower everyday costs, support fair wages, make childcare more affordable, and help create good jobs that allow families to build a life right here at home. If you work hard, you ought to have a fair chance to get ahead – not just get by.
Keeping Our Communities Strong. A ZIP code should not determine wither your road gets fixed, your neighborhood is safe, or your community gets noticed. From Monroe and Alexandria to our Delta communities, rural parishes, and small towns, every part of this district deserves to be seen and heard. No person and no community should be overlooked.
Creating Opportunity Here at Home. Too many of our children grow up believing success means leaving Louisiana. It shouldn’t. We need to support small businesses, skilled trades, workforce training, agriculture and new industries that create good-paying jobs close to. home. People should not have to leave the community they love just to find opportunity.
Pat Moore goes on to address education, health care, and a government that works with people to solve problems. She is so appealing a candidate that in a time of change, with some resources, even in a district that leans Republican, she has a chance.
Her opponent is State Rep Gabe Firment. He is a graduate of Louisiana Christian University and has an MBA from Louisiana Tech. Having worked in construction and insurance, he was able to see a disputed issue as a problem to solve. Rather than ban roofers from going door to door to help people with insurance claims, he proposed a grant program and a requirement that insurers offer the opportunity to have roofs strengthened as well as repaired after a damaging storm. The new, stronger roof would have a lower insurance premium. Not bad. A good solution.
But his starting point has its problems:
Pro-Life, Pro-Gun, Pro-Family (just what does that last mean?).
…defend our agricultural economy, preserve our way of life…. (what does that mean?).
… do whatever it takes to ensure that you keep your guns …. (whatever it takes?)
….unleash American energy production. (actually the US produces as much energy as the market demands).
Critical Race Theory and woke ideology is divisive and demeaning and has no place in our public schools. (Do Louisianans want politicians to control teachers’ and children’s thinking?)
Pat Moore is a better choice. She will have influence in what is now the majority party. DONATE.
