Members of the Prince of Whales Social Aid & Pleasure Club second lined with Glen David Andrews at the tuba blowout that closed the day on the Jazz and Heritage Stage.

Everybody enjoyed Jazz Fest in their own way. The Tuba Fats Tribute at the Jazz and Heritage Stage drew some of the more exuberant fest fans.

Jazz Fest had beautiful weather and big crowds for the final Sunday. Ivan Neville and Dumpstaphunk (pictured) played early in the day on the Acura Stage. The Neville Brothers returned to their closing slot on Acura to finish the festival.

Democratic State Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads survived a wild ride to win Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District seat on Saturday. Cazayoux’s victory represents a major gain for Democrats, who haven’t held that seat for more than three decades. It also cuts against the grain of recent GOP victories in Louisiana, most notably Gov. Bobby Jindal’s big win in last October’s gubernatorial primary and the Republicans’ capture of 4 other statewide offices in the same statewide primary.

Cazayoux’s victory says as much about the caliber of his opposition as it does about his own considerable political skills. His major opponent was veteran GOP right-wing war horse Woody Jenkins, a former state representative from Baton Rouge who first gained statewide prominence as the guy who held up plastic fetuses on the House floor in 1990 in support of his strict anti-abortion bill. (The bill passed, but was vetoed by then-Gov. Buddy Roemer; the veto was overridden, but the courts struck down the law as unconstitutional.) Read the rest of this entry »

Steve Scalise’s easy victory in Saturday’s special election from Louisiana’s First Congressional District was a lot more predictable than the weather for the second week of Jazz Fest. The conservative district has consistently sent Republicans to Congress since Bob Livingston first captured the seat in 1977. Coincidentally, Livingston also first won the seat in a special election — as did David Vitter in 1999.

Looking ahead to future elections (the first of which will be later this year for him), Scalise can expect little or no opposition from fellow Republicans, and probably not much from Democrats — as long as he steers clear of trouble.

For decades, the First District, like many others nationwide and in Louisiana, favored its incumbents. The late F. Edward Hébert held the seat from 1940 until he voluntarily retired in 1976. Democrat Rick Tonry of St. Bernard Parish held it briefly (for about 4 months in early 1977) before resigning amid a vote-stealing scandal and then losing a Democratic primary to Ron Faucheux in the summer of 1977. Faucheux lost the general election to Livingston, who held the seat for 22 years before resigning in a Clinton-Era sex scandal. Read the rest of this entry »