UPDATE — State Sen. Gary Carter, D-New Orleans, announced Tuesday that he is taking a leave of absence from the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, where he clashed last week with Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen, the committee’s chairman during a hearing on congressional redistricting. The meeting got so heated that Sen. Kleinpeter took a recess.
The announcement came a day after Carter addressed the full Senate to apologize for his behavior.
“The matters that we debate are often very contentious and hot button topics and as we debate those bills and and contentious matters like districting, it’s very important we have those conversations with cool heads and cool minds, even tempered and I’ll be the first one to tell you that I lost my cool, I lost my temper during the hearing that we had Friday,” Senator Carter announced to the Senate on Monday morning. “There’s no apologies for losing my cool. There’s no apologies for losing my temper. I have great respect for this body to the extent Senator Morris and Mr. chairman, my attacks, my questions seem like personal attacks on you, I apologize. I did not intend that at all. That’s part of me losing my temper during the course of the hearing. But these are some very important matters and some very important debates. We have to hear from all sides. We have to listen to all sides. Respect is critical in these moments. It’s very critical. Our state has a very, very complex history. I’m very aware of that. I’m also aware of the personal relationships I have in this building and I consider y’all friends and I want to remain friends.”
Carter demanded information about what would happen to votes cast by mail-in ballot before Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the congressional election and suggested that maps proposed by another senator were racist.
In a news release Tuesday, Carter said that “for the betterment of the Committee, and in order to help restore the decorum and focus that the moment demands, I’ve taken a voluntary leave of absence from the Senate Government & Affairs Committee.”
“My voice in this process will remain strong, steady, and unwavering. But now is the time for clarity and purpose. We cannot afford distractions when the stakes are this high for our democracy, our representation, and the people we serve.”
Carter and Kleinpeter clashed several times during the more than eight-hour hearing Friday, twice resulting in Kleinpeter calling a recess and chants in the hallways.
BATON ROUGE — Lawmakers saw hundreds of people and heard from dozens of constituents Friday at the first public discussion of redrawing the state’s congressional district maps.
Busloads of Louisianians crowded into the state Capitol as the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee considered what to do after the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the state’s existing maps and Gov. Jeff Landry suspended the congressional elections that were set for May 16.
Allegations of racism and eruptions of anger led the committee chairman Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R- Port Allen, to recess the hearing twice.
Kleinpeter took a recess after tempers flared with both Sen. Gary Carter , D- New Orleans, and Sen. Jay Morris, R- West Monroe.
Morris has proposed three potential maps, at least one of which he acknowledged would likely lead to the election of six white Republicans to represent Louisiana in Congress.
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“I don’t want a recess. I already took a recess,” Carter said while Kleinpeter said, “I’m the chairman….” but he was cut off by Carter saying, “You are no different than the senator that I am.”
“I am the chairman of this committee,” Kleinpeter reiterated.
“And you are no different than the senator that I am. Put my microphone back on!,” Carter said loudly.
“You are out of line,” Kleinpeter told Carter, to which he responded, “You are out of line.”
The second recess had some in the hallways chanting, “Let him speak! Let him speak!” followed by “Whose house? Our house!”
Later in the day state Democratic Party Executive Director Dadrius Lanus told the committee that during one of the disruptions, he was called “boy” and told to shut up.
Morris had sharp exchanges with Carter and with Sen. Sam Jenkins, D- Shreveport.
Carter suggested that Morris’ efforts to reduce the number of judges and court clerks, and the three maps he has proposed, were racist.
“We’re looking at the intent of the author,” Carter said.
Morris countered that he was following the Supreme Court’s directive not to base district boundaries on race.
“I didn’t pick anything because of race,” he said. “I can’t help what people think.”
Jenkins asked Morris if the map that would likely eliminate any Black candidates from being elected to Congress was something other than an attempt to dilute Black voting power.
Morris said it was legal to draw district boundaries to promote one political party.
“I prefer maps that help Republicans,” he said.
Lindsay Garcia, a candidate for Congress and the lead plaintiff in the federal suit filed to overturn Landry’s order suspending that election, later told the committee that it was Morris who told her to “shut the f*** up.”
The suit claims that since absentee voting had already begun and thousands of people had already cast ballots by mail, it was illegal for the governor to suspend the election.
Currently, Louisiana has six congressional districts, two of which are “majority minority” districts. The state has four white Republican representatives and two Black Democratic representatives.
Sen. Ed Price, D- Gonzales, has proposed a map that is more likely to retain the current race and political party ratios.
Most of the voters who spoke to the committee supported Price’s bill.
Sandra “Candy” Christophe, who ran against Congresswoman Julia Letlow, told the committee that it should seriously consider finding a map that both meets the Supreme Court’s standards and doesn’t dilute Black voting power.
“The whole world is watching us,” she said. “This can be our time to set the pace for the rest of the country.”
Charles Phipps, vice president of the Urban League of Louisiana, told the committee that the Urban League supports Price’s bill, calling it “politically and morally correct.”
He promised that the Urban League would hold lawmakers accountable for the decision they make on this issue.
“I’m not concerned about history,” he said. “I’m worried about today.”
Garcia said that the congressional candidates – and their supporters – want some answers about what’s going to happen to the votes from mail-in ballots sent before the court’s ruling and those cast in early voting and on election day.
Secretary of State Nancy Landry has said that it was too late to remove the congressional candidates from the ballot, but that votes in those races won’t count.
Garcia said all the confusion means that candidates who don’t win may feel the need to go to court to challenge the outcome.
When Garcia reached her time limit for speaking to the committee, Kleinpeter cut her off.
“I’ll light y’all up later online,” she said.
“Tag me in it,” Kleinpeter responded.
The youngest person to speak to the committee Friday was Josiah Hardy, a student at LSU Lab School who is a founder of Project 2028, which aims to improve civic literacy among young people.
The 16-year-old said he wants to be elected to public office, but maps like those proposed by Morris will accelerate the exodus of ambitious young leaders from Louisiana.
“It’s a problem that we all face,” he said.
Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, told him that she hopes he will stay in Louisiana to work to make the system better.
“These young people are really giving me energy,” she said.
Most of the speakers at Friday’s hearing professed support for Price’s map. A handful of speakers urged the committee to examine the map in House Bill 116, which was the map cited as likely to result in the election of only white Republicans.
Christy Haik, who is a member of the Republican State Central Committee, said the map does a better job than the others or keeping “communities of interest,” like those in the River Parishes industrial corridor, together.
Mike Mosko, of the Southern Poverty Law Center, did not agree.
“These maps just move us backwards,” he said.
The committee did not vote on any maps and Kleinpeter said they would be considered further next week.
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