There are three Democrats running for Senate District 14, which includes portions of north and south Baton Rouge. They are Quentin Anderson, Carolyn Hill and Rep. Larry Selders.
Capitol Access reporter Brooke Thorington spoke with two of the candidates about the issues facing the district and their qualifications.
Selders did not respond to our requests to be interviewed.
These interviews have been edited for clarity.
Quentin Anderson
Thorington: Tell me why you've decided to run?
Anderson: Well, I think one of the things that I fell in love with last year was the actual job of representation. And it's not that I did not. I wanted to do the job last year, but you really learn in depth what the job means, most importantly to the constituents when you're running, when you're interacting with them, when you're knocking on thousands of doors and hosting town halls, you learn what people care about. (Anderson was a candidate for the state’s 6th Congressional District).
And you also learn where some of their cynicism in our political process comes from. And it often comes from a feeling of a lack of representation, underrepresentation, or worse, a complete sort of invisibility to the system. Even though they're the ones that elect the leaders that represent them or supposedly represent them in that system.
So the prospect of being able to still represent my community was still appealing to me. And throughout the congressional campaign, more often than not, even though Congress is the one that gets the national headlines, most of the issues that people wanted to talk to me about were more appropriate for local and state.
Officials things like education, things like local infrastructure, even things like, you know, picking up the trash outside of their neighborhood. So this campaign, I think, while it's not as high profile, I don't get the ability to walk into any building and everybody's a constituent. It's a little bit more selective.
It's still the same job. It's still the same task. It's still the same assignment. And I do feel called to that assignment to represent my community as boldly and as unapologetically as I possibly can. What do you think should be a priority for this district? My platform was kind of informed by what I kept hearing from voters, particularly here in Baton Rouge.
And my platform is five fold. It's raising wages, protecting workers, investing in education, reducing crime, and expanding access to healthcare for everyone. And I do think, even though, you know, it kind of sounds like slogans that you put on a bumper sticker, and if I could afford to, I probably would produce those bumper stickers. I also think that those who are informed by exactly what I've heard, and I've done a lot more listening than I have been talking for the last year. And what I've heard is that people feel stuck with low wages, and they don't feel like the government is helping them out much by keeping the minimum wage very low.
What I've heard is that workers are really afraid of what the future of AI and automation might look like, and they don't feel like, particularly when you look at the White House, they don't feel like the government is looking out for them, but instead is cozying up to big tech.
What I've heard is teachers that have complained about having to come out of pocket for things like pencils and pencil pouches and other school supplies. And typically, for those of us growing up, who are a little bit older, we just remember those things being available that the school provided them. That at the very least you didn't have to come with a cover charge to be able to go to school. What I've heard is people feeling like they fall into the gap.
On the healthcare system, I’ve heard where they make a little bit too much for subsidies, but they don't make enough to be able to purchase health insurance on their own out in the open market.
What I've heard is that crime is ravaging both communities where the crime rate might not be high, but the perception of crime creeping in. And that scares them, and I’ve also heard from the communities where the crime rate is high and they live in it.
And what I've heard is that they want real solutions. They don't want the performative. They've gotten the whole let's hire more officers and let's extend sentences, but that hasn't resulted in any relief. So for Miss Jenkins, who actually lives in 70805, all that's resulted in is maybe Miss Jenkins' grandson getting arrested and staying in jail longer, but it hasn't actually made her home or her community safer.
So that's what I've heard, and that's what has informed my campaign.
Thorington: What experience do you have that makes you the better candidate?
Anderson: I think practically speaking, when I served as the campaign director for the campaign for common sense school discipline reform in Illinois in 2015, that was my real hands-on experience.
Not just learning experience, but, you know, producing experience. That's where I produce results. I got to lead both the negotiating, the crafting, and the lobbying of a pretty progressive school to prison pipeline bill, that sought to reduce the amount of kids that were being suspended and expelled, and instead paid.
We tried our best to prioritize keeping kids in school at all costs, because at the end of the day, I do believe that public education is a great equalizer, and it only works if our public education system can accommodate kids that come from all backgrounds. It might need different levels of patience and investment.
I actually got that bill not only negotiated, then I negotiated it with every stakeholder that was involved. So that was folks that were likely to support it and folks that were adamantly against it. Superintendents and principals, but also students and teachers. I had to negotiate that to a point where everybody in the room was fine with the legislation passing.
I had to acknowledge whatever the budgetary implications of that bill were, I had to then go to the Democratic caucus and the Republican caucus. I had to come up with different arguments for different constituencies, and I had to whip up the majority of votes in both chambers and then convince the Republican governor to sign the bill addressing everybody's interest along the way.
That's the experience that I had. I don't understand how you can go into a place like a legislature and expect to get 100 percent of what you want. But I also don't understand how you can expect not to produce anything. And I think that that experience of getting that bill passed is just more broadly reflective of what my professional background has been, which is I'm often in rooms with people that may not see the world the same way, but the mandate has been that we have to leave that room with something produced.
And that's kind of the way that I approach this job.
Carolyn Hill
Thorington: Why are you running for this seat?
Hill: I tell everyone when I'm on the campaign trail that I'm running as the change agent. I'm running because our community is hurting. Senate District 14 is composed of several different components within our EBR. We have St. George, the newly created St. George District. We have Eden Park, we have North Baton Rouge, we have Mid City.
So it's a very multicultural, diverse district. And I had the opportunity to ride through Senate District 14, mainly in the northern part. And it was so disheartening to see the conditions of the residents the way that they were living. It was disheartening to see the vacant buildings, the blighted homes.
There are no grocery stores where the residents can have access. They have to come across town, even the students at Southern University. And it was just a light bulb that just hit my spirit and was like something’s got to change. Our people are suffering. Our people need advocacy, and they need someone that's going to go to the capitol to advocate for them.
And I know that I will be that change agent. And I will be that person who’s able to work across all party lines, regardless of your race, regardless of your gender, regardless of your culture and regardless of your party affiliation, because we are all in this together. And in order to improve Senate District 14, we all have to work together.
And that's why I'm running. I'm running to be the bridge builder for Senate District 14, but most importantly, to be the voice for the residents of Senate District 14.
Thorington: Tell me what experience you have that would make you the better candidate.
Hill: I previously served on the Louisiana State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE), where I created educational policies for over 180,000 families and students.
I represented 14 parishes and EBR was one of the parishes that I represented during that time. But my experience is being able to work with all people. I’m one that’s able to create policy, regulate policies, but also execute the policies. As a BESE board member, most of our legislation that was sent to the board was already passed through legislators.
And so we worked very closely with the education committee. And during that process, I learned a lot. I served on Act 833, a committee, which at that time was Rep. John Schroder for children with disabilities. And I advocated strongly for kids with special needs with disabilities. And just being able to understand the ins and outs of working with the legislature and state departments.
And so having that background and being previously elected makes me qualified.
Secondly, I'm a social worker. I've worked in the school district for the past 10 years. So I've been on the front line working with all diverse groups of individuals and also served as the chairwoman for the East Baton Rouge Parish executive committee for two years, and I served as the chair during that position.
I tell people I've been on both sides. I've been the candidate, I've been elected, and I also have a political consulting firm where I've helped candidates to get elected. So I've had the opportunity to work on all three levels.
And so from that experience, I know that will make me the qualified individual for this position.
Thorington: What do you think should be a priority for that district?
Well, number one, education. Because we all know that education eliminates poverty. I tell individuals that I grew up very poor in a very urban community. And I worked very hard to get to where I am. Most people see the final product, but they don't know the process of what I went through to get to where I am and where I come from. So I'm a very strong proponent of education. We need to make sure that we have the resources in place for those schools that are struggling academically.
We need to make sure that we have individuals that are in those schools that are qualified . To actually educate our kids, we need more social workers in the schools. I understand because a lot of the students come to the school. And a lot of times that's where they get the hot meal. That's where they're able to get comfort because of societal issues they're facing when they get home. Or mom is working two jobs to keep food on the table or keep the utilities on. Dad, most likely, is absent from the home and so, we're dealing with a lot of things within the school district, and we need wraparound services to help these families prosper.
So, for me, education is the number 1 critical issue for me. And in addition to that, we know crime has increased tremendously. I mean, just across EBR as a whole, but even in Senate District 14, because we have 70805, we have 70802, the northern part of the community.
And so we have seen an increase in crime, homicides. I just did a post about how the homicide rate has doubled since 2014 and people just want safer communities. They want safer schools. They want safer neighborhoods. So that's another aspect of what I'll be advocating for.
I can't change everything in one day, but I would like to create a task force where we can get community leaders, church members, and even students on a task force team. So we can talk about various issues because I can't do it by myself. I can't and I understand it, but I'm smart enough to understand that I have to identify people that are living in those communities to come help me along the way to make sure I create, and drive reasonable and effective legislation for Senate District 14.
Thorington: With a Republican majority in the Senate and running as a Democrat, what would be your approach to get legislation passed?
Hill: I'm more of a moderate Democrat as far as social issues and as far as fiscal issues, I'm a conservative Democrat.
I think we're so divided by party and we all have great ideas. We just may have different philosophies. But I believe if we could come together for the common good and be able to work together, we would notice that we all have one purpose and that's to make Louisiana a greater state.
And so for me, I will be that change agent that will come in and be open to listen to other ideas from other parties. Whether they're independent, whether they're Republicans, and even my own colleagues as Democrats, and be able to work along with these individuals. I may not get everything I want, but what I do understand is that if I can get some things to improve my community, I have done a great job.
And so we have to work together and there will be bills that you have to work together on without compromising your integrity, your values and your morals. And so that’s the type of legislation I will be willing to sit down to converse and listen to and work with.
All parties, regardless of their party affiliation and even their philosophy, because we can agree to disagree, but we have one common goal and have to make sure that the state of Louisiana thrives.
