Is Baton Rouge, Louisiana a Liberal City?

Politics in the modern world are so prevalent; society is split into two different categories- Democrats and Republicans. When picking a place to live choosing whether you live in a Republican or a Democrat area is really prevalent. I have done the research and talked with locals about whether Baton Rouge, Louisiana is a Liberal city.

Baton Rouge, Lousiana is a liberal city, but it is a swing city. In the 2020 presidential election, 55.5% of the citizens voted for the Democrat party and 42.5% voted Republican. This shows that there is a very small marginal difference between the number of Democrats and Republicans in the city.

I have written down Baton Rouge, Louisiana’s political history. This should give you a better understanding of how the city functions as a swing city. Read on to learn more about the political clement of Baton Rouge.

Voting Patterns

Baton Rouge is a Liberal City, but it is a swing city. That means that sometimes the city will vote Republican over Democrat. In the last election, which was 2020 Biden vs Trump, 55.5% of voters voted for the Democratic Party, 42.5% voted Republican, and 2% voted Independent.

As you can see, Barton Rouge barely has more of the voting populace Democrat over Republican. This also was the first election in the past 24 years that there was more than a 10% difference between the vote of Democrats vs. Republicans. Usually, it is a much tighter race. The reason for such a large voting difference is that the United States of America was under a crisis during the 2020 election year and that influenced voting trends immensely.

To continue to prove this point, Baton Rouge is in Louisiana’s 6th congressional district. The congressional representative for Lousiana’s 6th congressional district is Garret Graves. Garret Graves is a Republican candidit. Despite voting trends, a Republican was able to gain the majority of votes in the Baton Rouge, Lousiana area.

In the past six presidential elections, there have been two wins for the Republican Party and four wins for the Democrat Party. This shows how voting trends changes in Baton Rouge depending on the election year.

With this level of political diversity, there is room for all different trains of thought in Baton Rouge. This can be a great place to live if you value diversity of thinking.

City Council

In the city of Baton Rouge, there are 12 districts that each have their own political leaders. Each of these leaders makes sure the voices of the diverse community of Baton Rouge voice is heard.

In the first district is Brandon Noel. He is a member of the Republican Party and has been on the city council since 2010.

In the second district is Chana Banks. She has a large belief that the citizens of the communities voices can be heard better when communicating with their city representative. To help that she hosts weekly city meetings to hear what the people have to say.

In the third district is Rowdy Gaudet. Rowdy has worked on helping with finding funding for the public transportation of his district.

In the fourth district is Aaron Moak. Aaron is also a member of the Republican Party.

In the fifth district is Darryl Hurst. Darryl is very proud of his community and every year he makes a video that highlights the work that he and the community have put in.

In the sixth district is Cleve Dunn Jr. Cleve is a member of the Democratic Party.

In the seventh district is LaMont Cole. LaMont is also very big on listening to the voice of the community. He holds weekly meetings at the Grace Baptist Church.

In the eighth district is Denise Amaroso. Denise got into politics after her husband died, but she had always been active in her community by volunteering at the woman’s hospital.

In the ninth district is Dwight Hudson. Dwight is another member of the Republican Party that has been serving on the city council for a long time.

In the tenth district is Carolyn Coleman. Carolyn is another proud representative of the Democrat Party.

In the eleventh district is Laurie Adams. Laurie is an active member of the Republican Party representing her community.

In the twelfth district is Jennifer Racca. Jennifer has worked hard on taking care of the planet and has created a recycling campaign in her district.

All of these diverse people work together to make a better city for the people of Baton Rouge.

Political History of Baton Rouge

Baton Rouge has a rich history. Signs of civilization have been found back that track to as early as 8000 BC. Baton Rouge was bought during the Louisiana purchase, but the citizens of the city were a fan of the United States gaining control of Baton Rouge. For 90 days they governed themselves as an independent government.

Yet, James Maddison was determined to keep Baton Rouge as a part of the United States of America and ordered the military to take it over. Baton Rouge as a result become part of the United States officially in 1812 when Louisiana became a state.

Baton Rouge does not have a sparkling clean political history, though. During the civil war, Lousiana succeeded from the United States and joined the Confederate Party. They joined this party in an attempt to keep slavery, which was a major part of the economy.

Baton Rouge has continued to develop and change and is now a predominant city in the business market of the United States of America. People all across the country visit the city to make large deals. Making Baton Rouge a very influential city.

Black Lives Matter

In Baton Rouge, there has been a lot of work towards the Black Lives Matter movement. One such movement was the photo taken of Leshia Evans.

Leshia Evans was a nurse who came to Baton Rouge to protest against police brutality. The protest was inspired by the shooting of Alton Stirling. Alton was a black man who was shot by the police even though he was unarmed.

Leshia Evans wanted to fight for the safety of all African Americans and came ready to stand her ground. The police came to this protest armed and ready to fight, but Leshia Evans did not move.

A photographer Jonathan Bachman saw the inspiration that Evans brought with her fearlessness and took a photo of the nurse who was dressed in a nice professional outfit being arrested for not moving when asked. This photo really showed the seriousness of the event and proved that the police had too much control in the area.

The photo won many awards and Leshia Evans became an influencer in the 2020 election speaking out against police brutality and begging future leaders to work on fixing the broken system.

Trump Rally

On January 6 2021 the United States Capital was breached by protesters who caused severe property damage and killed 5 people. This happened by extremist Republicans who were trying to keep President Trump in office.

Across the county, while the capital was being ransacked other Republicans were holding their own protests in front of their state legislative offices.

In Baton Rouge, there was a large Trump rally in support of the past president. People came with signs and flags that supported Trump and the policies he promoted.

Baton Rouge’s Republican citizens were a lot more peaceful than the people who attacked the White House. Yet, they were a piece of the movement that supported such hostility and the break of constitutional law.

Another issue of this protest was that it happened right during the height of the Covid-19 Pandemic. None of the protesters came with masks on and they did not maintain social distance laws. The spread of this disease went higher because of this event.

Baton Rouge, even though a swing state, has a large Republican extremist group. Therefore, if you are a Republican extremist you will be able to find solidarity inside the city of Baton Rouge.

Crime Problem

Baton Rouge has the highest crime rate per populace. Its crime rate has caused a series of debates between Republicans and Democrats on how to best handle the issues.

Republicans argue that Baton Rouge needs to increase its police force. They argue that Baton Rouge’s issue is that there are not enough security factors to protect the citizens in the city. Therefore, they want to increase funding to the police to add more defense to the streets.

Democrats on the other hand want to add more gun regulations. They believe that adding these regulations will help prevent shootings from happening to begin with. This will make it harder for criminals to be able to access the weapons to commit crimes.

Baton Rouge has responded as a swing state in increasing pay for their officers and they have increased their gun regulation processes. These measures will hopefully help with the major crime issues. This shows how being a swing city affects politics.