A Black Farmer Is Running to Become Louisiana’s Next U.S. Senator

NEW IBERIA, Louisiana — On a humid September afternoon, wedged between high stalks of sugarcane and old tractors, Jamie Davis felt right at home. 

He had traveled 170 miles from Waterproof, Louisiana, a 91% Black town that’s home to 576 people, to New Iberia, a bigger city, on another Black-owned farm. There, Davis and a group of dedicated volunteers battled the heat and a swarm of bugs to shake hands with potential voters who could make him the next U.S. senator from Louisiana. 

The Democratic nominee is running against U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, the state’s first Republican woman elected to Congress. This summer, she received an endorsement from President Donald Trump. If Davis wins, he would make history as the first Black person to hold the seat since the days of P.B.S. Pinchback, a Black man elected in 1873 who was never allowed to take his seat. 

“It would be inspirational to all of our grandmothers and grandfathers and uncles and aunts that has been in this state for a long time, and somehow they’ve never seen a person — African American — to cross the finish line,” Davis told Capital B.

All summer, Louisiana has been in the news for an effort to recall state officials, including Republican Gov. Jeff Landry, after the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision this year that further dismantled the Voting Rights Act. 

With the November election just days away, the state could make history in another way: elect its first Black person or first Republican woman. Already, Black voters had the second-highest turnout on the first day of early voting since 2008 — the last time a Democrat won statewide office. 

Some say it seems like a longshot for a Democrat to win in Louisiana. Letlow has outraised him, raking in nearly $7 million in campaign donations, whereas Davis raised around $4 million mostly from small, individual donations. He hasn’t received any investment from the national Democratic Party. Still, he’s been endorsed by former Louisiana Democratic Gov. Jon Bel Edwards, U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields and the Collective PAC, which also endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Angie Nixon of Florida. He’s also been seen on the campaign trail with U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware. 

One Poliwave poll showed Letlow leading the race by 14.6 points. Another poll by Hart Research Associates, commissioned by the Davis campaign showed that he’s trailing behind Letlow by only 4%. 

A spokesperson for Letlow told the Shreveport Times the poll was bogus.

“While Jamie Davis is focused on commissioning bogus polls, Julia is focused on meeting with Louisianans from all 64 parishes and hearing directly from communities across our state,” the statement said. “Julia is going to keep showing up, listening and working to earn every vote between now and Election Day.”

Capital B made multiple attempts to reach Letlow but did not hear back. She recently declined to attend an Oct. 19 debate against her opponent.

Davis said he doesn’t think he should win because he’s a Black man, but because he believes he is “the best candidate to win this election.” Davis has some experience serving in local government. In 2015, he was elected as police juror in Tensas Parish, a role equivalent to a local commissioner. He ran for state representative in 2023, but lost to the incumbent. 

This time, Davis beat Gary Crockett, a retired Navy veteran, by a landslide, winning 80% of the votes to become the Democratic nominee.

“Yes, it will be a struggle. Yes, it will go down in the record, but we are the very best candidate in this election, and that’s what I believe the people of Louisiana believe,” he said.

Davis pledges to bring economic development to the state, raise the federal minimum wage, and reduce the cost of diesel and fertilizer for farmers. Letlow’s priorities include supporting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, directing federal resources to law enforcement, and defending crop insurance for farmers.

One voter, Jonathan Roberts, a lifelong New Orleans resident, said Davis is doing a good job being out in the community. The 41-year-old said he plans to vote for him. Whoever wins, he wants them to implement policies that create jobs, youth opportunities, and sustain rural hospitals. 

“I think he hasn’t done a perfect job, but he is trying,” Roberts said. “I would like to vote for him, and I think other people would like to vote for him, but I believe the electoral system is one side to a two- sided coin where people like us are left out of the experience and not prioritized.”

The post A Black Farmer Is Running to Become Louisiana’s Next U.S. Senator appeared first on Capital B News.