Twelve days ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections in Abbeville, about 75 people are at the Vermilion Parish library to talk to Jamie Davis, the third-generation Black row-crop farmer from tiny Tensas Parish who’s the Democratic candidate for Louisiana’s U.S. Senate seat.
Davis is here to talk with residents concerned about a SpaceX project, how it will affect their daily lives with 30 launches a day and the coastal parish they call home.
“ We wanna hear from you,” says Davis. “And I am not leaving this room until everybody has [been] heard that wanna be heard.”
Davis probably isn’t the first person you’d imagine as the ideal candidate, but he’s one of the few Democrats who put his hat — or rather his signature ball cap, with “Jamie Davis for Senate” embroidered across the front — into the ring.
Davis is facing U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who by all accounts was seeking her third term in the House until President Donald Trump endorsed her for Senate on Truth Social. Trump wanted to oust incumbent senator Bill Cassidy, one of seven Republican senators who voted to impeach him in 2021.
Republicans have had a strong hold on Louisiana, but the anticipated Blue Wave of the Nov. 3 midterm elections could also include a U.S. Senate seat in the Bayou State.
Early voting numbers show more Democrats cast ballots than registered Republicans. A recent poll, commissioned by the Davis campaign, showed Davis tied with Letlow at 45%, and two previous polls showed him trailing by only four points.
If Davis wins, he’d be the first Black candidate to be elected to a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana since Reconstruction.
“If you're in Louisiana, I feel like you feel the momentum,” said Kaitlyn Joshua, the statewide field director for Davis’ campaign. “It is such an interesting dynamic between the two candidates that are running for this office.”
After Letlow won the Republican primary in June, most assumed she had an easy path to victory in November, Southern University Political Science Professor Dr. Albert Samuels said.
“I think that the Letlow campaign thought it was over, too,” said Samuels. They've sort of been coasting. And meanwhile, [Davis has] been trudging along like the engine that believed he could, and he just continues to plod away.”
Despite the polling data, Letlow’s campaign has held steadfast to its strategy: refusing to debate her opponent, barely speaking to the media and holding invite-only political events.
Republican Political Consultant Roy Fletcher said it’s the same strategy that worked for the party primary.
“I don't think she's gonna win like that,” said Fletcher. “I think this race has gotten closer, and if I were her, I would treat it as a close race, and she has not treated it that way.”
Another issue working against Letlow is the nondisclosure agreement she signed with Meta. Shortly after she gained confidential information about the media giant’s plans to build a data center in Richland Parish, Meta stock was added to her portfolio. A spokesperson for Letlow said the NDA played no part, and that she had no direct oversight of the trades.
Davis has used Letlow’s NDAs as a talking point on the campaign trail.
“Jamie has never signed an NDA. He has pledged not to do that going forward,” said Joshua. “I feel like we're really seeing Louisiana everyday folks in a candidate.”
Nationally, the Democratic Party has invested money and resources in swing states, but Joshua says the Davis campaign is truly a grassroots effort.
”We're not taking any PAC money at all, which I think is something to be very proud of,” she said. “Everyone on our team has really shouted to the rooftops how excited they are to be a part of something that feels so genuine.”
A week before election day, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg joined Davis on the campaign trail in New Orleans, along with actor and New Orleans native Wendell Pierce. New Jersey Senator Cory Booker has also stumped for Davis.
But it pales in comparison to party interest in Scott Colom’s Senate race in Mississippi, with an endorsement from President Barack Obama and state visits from President Bill Clinton and Kamala Harris.
Former Republican-turned-Independent commentator and strategist Tim Miller said he could see Louisiana’s political colors change, but he doesn’t expect it to happen in time for this election.
“You've seen the excitement and the turnout, particularly in kind of the blue parts of the state,” he said. “So, I think if you can kind of build off that and like keep that excitement going and then have a message for some of the rest of the state, I don't think it's crazy that the Democrats could start winning here.”
