LA-01: Getting to Know the District (2)

Jefferson and St. Charles Parishes are the western suburbs of New Orleans. The eastern boundary of Jefferson Parish is the city line, at the now-infamous 17th Street Canal, sprawling west to the Louis Armstrong International Airport. The bulk of St. Charles Parish is clustered along the Mississippi River, as a large portion of the northern section of the parish is the location of the Bonnet Carre' Spillway, a flood-control system designed to keep the river from flooding New Orleans.

Jefferson Parish has been gerrymandered to separate black neighborhoods from white. Shrewsbury and South Kenner on the east bank as well as Waggaman, Avondale, Westwego, Harvey/Marrero on the west bank are part of LA-02. That leaves the the northern portion of Kenner, the city of Harahan, and unincorporated Metairie on the East Bank, and the city of Gretna on the west bank as part of LA-01. Of all these areas, Metairie/Kenner is the key.

If Metairie was an incorporated municipality, it would be the largest city in the state. There was never a move for "home rule," because parish government and the parish sheriff's office run Metairie as if it was a city anyway. Metairie was the main white-flight suburb of the 1960s, for one very simple reason: nobody lived there, so there were no black folks at all. With the exception of two mostly-black neighborhoods (Shrewsbury and Bunch Village, both part of LA-02), this was true right up to the storm. Something's changed since the storm, however--black folks have invaded Metairie. Since so many rental units in the city became unavailable after the storm, many residents of the city came out to Metairie to live.

The older portions of Metairie, "Old Metairie," and "Bucktown" are the two of the staunchest Republican areas in the metro area, for two of the most Republican of reasons. Old Metairie is the old money; the folks who live here are indeed "country club" Republicans, since the neighborhood backs up to two of the city's most exclusive country clubs. Other subdivisions in the neighborhood have been extensively gentrified, to the point where home builders would buy a 1800sqft house on a 50x100 lot, tear it down, and build a 3-story, 3000sqft home in its place. Old Metairie and Bucktown make up the 89th state representative district, which has the dubious distinction of being the district that sent KKK leader David Duke to the state legislature. Where Old Metairie was the money neighborhood, bucktown was a working-class area. Originally a fishing village, the neighborhood grew as middle class white-flighters left the city. By far, these are two of the most racist neighborhoods I've ever encountered in my life.

West of Bucktown and Old Metairie is the bulk of Metairie's population. The parish grew out from Metairie Road (which follows the path of old Bayou Metairie), and expanded north as land near the lake was drained and reclaimed. The areas around Metairie Road and close to the lake contain high-value properties, and the vast middle consists of smaller homes and lots of apartment complexes. Prior to the storm, even most of these apartments had majority-white tenants, since the homeowners in the vicinity were hostile to non-whites. Since the storm, however, that's changed. When businesses closed or left the metro area post-storm, that opened up rental units. When you've got a job and your old place was wiped out, you go where you have to. The amount of construction, rebuilding, and remodeling work available in the area has attracted a large Hispanic population, not all of which consists of undocumented workers. Many latinos coming into the area are Texans looking for new opportunities here.

West of Metairie is the city of Kenner. Kenner was originally a rural community with farms growing local produce for the New Orleans markets. The city hit a huge post-WWII boom, when the airport was expanded. Metairie residents looking to flip first homes and build something bigger, as well as out-of-towners who moved to the city during the oil boom of the 1970s fueled growth in the northern part of Kenner. Kenner also has a large hispanic community as well. The southern part of the city, south of Airline Highway (US61), is mostly-black, and part of LA-02.

The portions of St. Charles Parish that are in LA-01 are the communities of Destrehan and St. Rose. The map is deceptive, because the bulk of the land shown is the spillway. Destrehan and St. Rose are river road communities just west of Kenner. These are more established neighborhoods whose residents work primarily at the many petrochemical plants along the river. They are classic "Regan Democrats," conservative/moderate, blue-collar, pro-union. There has been some expansion from the city and East Jefferson to these communities post-storm as well.

The religious makeup of East Jefferson is primarily Catholic, but there are several large evangelical congregations here as well. There are a few mainstream Protestant congregations (Lutheran and Episcopalian). Evangelical congregations here have capitalized with dissatisfaction some have with the Catholic Church. There are also a couple of big Jewish in Metairie near the lake, Congregation Shir Chadash (Orthodox/Conservative) and Congregation Gates of Prayer (Reform).

Most of Catholic parishes in East Jefferson operate elementary schools. In spite of this, the public school system in the area is nowhere near as dysfunctional as in the city. Public schools are experiencing serious growth issues in the post-storm era, given the huge population surge. There are a number of private schools in East Jefferson as well., but the huge racial rift that existed in the city's schools doesn't exist here (since there were so few blacks in the area in the first place).

In terms of voter registration, East Jefferson is one of the most Republican areas of the state. The GOP always had a strong presence in the country-club subdivisions. The party pressed their advantage in the early 1980s by encouraging many local pols to switch. For many, the combination of a Republican president and the statewide change to open primaries enabled many to come out of the closet, as it were. It's now at the point where there are very few Democrats left holding office in the area.

The official Democratic party structure in the parish has been a disaster for the last twenty years. Purity trolls on the parish executive committee would regularly attack Democrats who tried to work with Republicans or endorsed Republican candidates, driving even more office-seekers to the GOP. What's left of a party infrastructure is no longer in a position to help a Dem candidate who's running parishwide, much less for Congress.

Still, it's unclear just how strong support for the GOP is in East Jefferson, mainly because there are no alternatives to Republicans. In the recent gubernatorial election, the area overwhelmingly went Republican, because two of the candidates in the open primary were local boys. The negativity of that campaign makes it clear that these Republicans don't respect the "11th Commandment" of St. Ronald of California. If that trend continues, their candidates won't hesitate to take the gloves off early. Some skeletons are likely to start jumping out of closets as well, which will also fuel voter dissatisfaction with these guys. It's quite possible that the combination of Bush/war fatigue, FEMA anger, and the uglieness of a closed Republican primary will disgust a sufficient number of people that a Democratic alternative such as Gilda Reed will be attractive.

This is why We Need Reed, and it's why you need to show her some financial love. The DCCC isn't going to notice her until she can prove she's got a chance, and she needs money to increase visibility. When people get to know Gilda, they like her. They see she's an alternative to upwardly-mobile professional politicians who use their constituents to feather their own nests. They see someone who will vote to end the war and help rebuild New Orleans. They see a candidate committed to their future.

Tomorrow: The North Shore.