elections

Uptown resident Caroline Fayard running for Secretary of State

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Uptown resident Caroline Fayard announced this week that she is organizing a campaign for Secretary of State, her second bid for state office after her strong second-place showing in the lieutenant governor’s race last year. Though she said supporters had urged her to run for governor and other offices, the Democratic lawyer “decided Secretary of State was the best fit,” she said on her campaign website. In a special election for lieutenant governor last year, Fayard emerged from a large field of more experienced contenders to force then-Secretary of State Jay Dardenne into a runoff, where she garnered 43 percent of the vote. Other announced candidates include Carrollton-based state Rep. Walker Hines, a Republican who decided earlier this year to give up his seat to seek the job of Secretary of State, and Tom Schedler, a Republican appointed by Gov. Bobby Jindal to fill the remainder of Dardenne’s term now seeking a term of his own. The fall elections will fill statewide offices and the state legislature.

elections

Nola.com: Uptown could lose two House seats in redistricting

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Uptown New Orleans could be represented by as few as three seats when the state House of Representatives is redistricted using the new Census numbers this year, according to an analysis by Bill Barrow and Ed Anderson of the Times-Picayune. New Orleans will likely lose three seats in the House because of its shrunken population, and state Rep. Walker Hines’ decision not to seek re-election means his district will likely be among those carved up in the redistricting process, the newspaper reports. State Rep. Cameron Henry of Jefferson told the reporters he was open to giving up the Black Pearl area he also represents. Some of that area would then presumably be absorbed by Reps. Neil Abramson, Walt Leger and Helena Moreno, the three remaining Uptown incumbents.