Troy Carter

U.S. Rep. Troy Carter acknowledges that three key members of his Algiers-based political organization didn’t perform well on election night in New Orleans two weeks ago.

Two of them lost badly as they sought more powerful positions, and the third, an incumbent, was forced into a runoff against a newcomer.

But Carter dismisses any suggestion that the results say anything about his political influence at home or his political strength ahead of next year’s midterms, when he might face a rocky road to reelection if the U.S. Supreme Court invalidates Louisiana’s congressional map.

“In this town, where there’s always an election, you pick people that you think are the best for the job at the time,” Carter said. “Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But when the race is over, you move on.”

State Rep. Delisha Boyd lost her race to be an at-large city council member, and Edwin Shorty, constable for the 2nd City Court in Algiers, failed in his bid to become the sheriff.

Darren Lombard, the clerk of criminal district court, finished second in the primary and faces a tough battle to keep his seat in the runoff election on Nov. 15.

Carter cut digital ads for all three of his candidates and campaigned in person for each one.

“His organization did not do well in this election,” said Robert Collins, a political analyst who is a professor at Dillard University.

Carter admitted that his candidates fell short of expectations in the Oct. 13 primary.

“No doubt about it,” he said. “I have three very dear friends who had a bad night. But I’m loyal to a fault, and I stand with my friends. I had several good friends who had good nights, and I stand with them as well. But I don’t throw my friends away when they have bad nights. My loyalty means something.”

Carter also endorsed Helena Moreno, who was elected mayor, and JP Morrell, who was reelected as a city council at-large member.

Carter’s record in the election “was mixed,” said veteran pollster Ron Faucheux, who served as a state representative for eight years and finished second in the 1982 mayor’s race. “He had those two losses, but he did support the winning candidate for mayor. And that may be more important than the other races.”

Moreno aired a TV commercial where Carter told viewers, “I’ve seen her fight every day to make our community better for everyone.”

Carter noted that his political group — called the Alliance for Public Action and Change — backed two other candidates who won outright on Oct. 13 (assessor Errol Williams and council member Freddie King III), while two others are advancing to runoff elections next month. They are Holly Friedman for District A (which includes Uptown and Lakeview) and Jason Hughes for District E (which includes New Orleans East).

A tough night

But political insiders say the races that mattered most to him involved Boyd, Shorty and Lombard because of his close personal and political relationships with them.

Boyd was elected to the state House in 2022 to replace Gary Carter, who won the state Senate seat vacated by Troy Carter when he was elected to the U.S. House in 2021. Gary Carter is Troy Carter’s nephew.

Boyd announced in December that she would run for the council at-large seat that Moreno is giving up. In April, fellow state Rep. Matthew Willard joined the race.

Boyd faced questions after The Times-Picayune reported on Sept. 24 that she and a group supporting her campaign had paid more than $39,000 in campaign money to a real estate company owned by her and her daughter. The article also reported that her home in the English Turn neighborhood was facing foreclosure in November.

On Oct. 9, the newspaper reported that Boyd had acknowledged using campaign funds to advertise her real estate business — a potential violation of state campaign finance laws.

Willard won easily with 59% of the vote to Boyd’s 31%.

“He was the far superior candidate,” said state Rep. Mandie Landry, of New Orleans.

Landry’s support showed how Carter can alienate other elected officials when he endorses their opponents. In 2023, Carter and Boyd endorsed Landry’s opponent, Madison O’Malley, when Landry was reelected.

Shorty began his campaign late and never caught fire, although he sent out negative mail pieces on the front-runner, former New Orleans Police Chief Michelle Woodfork.

Woodfork won with 53% while Shorty captured only 21%.

Meanwhile, Lombard tried to undermine his opponent, Calvin Duncan, who had served a life sentence in prison for a 1981 killing until he was freed in 2011 after his conviction was vacated. Lombard accused Duncan of murder. Duncan has said court rulings show that he was innocent.

After the election, political analysts said the results showed that Lombard’s accusation boomeranged against him, and he won only 46%, one percentage point behind Duncan.

Collins believes the primary election results indicate Duncan has the edge.

“If you’re happy with your incumbent, you’ll vote for them in the primary,” Collins said. “If they don’t win in the primary, they may have hit their ceiling. Duncan is probably happy with his current position.”

Several incumbents who failed to win the primary lost in the runoff recently, including former Sheriff Marlin Gusman and former Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere III.

"He expended a lot of political capital," said pollster Silas Lee. "But he won’t be judged eternally by a loss. Nobody has a 100 percent record of always winning elections."

Carter said he has so many friends after years of being in politics that, when he backs one over the other, that “doesn’t mean that when it’s over, the world comes to an end. It means that we just continue doing the job that we do and that is doing what’s best for the people who jointly elect us, to continue to work as I do every day of my life, whether it’s in the nation’s capital fighting to bring resources home, or passing laws that will make life better.”

A changing landscape

By most accounts, Carter has gained respect in Democratic circles in Washington as a workhorse since winning a special election in 2021 in a district that’s anchored in New Orleans and extends up the Mississippi River into Baton Rouge.

Carter has been a strong advocate of Democratic social and economic causes while working with Republicans on selected issues.

He has been named to key strategy and policy committees within the House Democratic Caucus and has quickly ascended within the ranks of the 62-member Congressional Black Caucus. He is now the group’s first vice president.

“He understands the political process, and he understands the importance of relationships and how to build relationships,” said U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford of Nevada, the immediate past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus. “He’s not here for likes and personality. He’s here because he’s really trying to make a difference.”

“Rest assured, I’ve got a record I’m extremely proud of, and we’ll stand on it seven days a week,” he said.

Faucheux said the recent failure of Carter’s candidates hurt him among political insiders, but said, “Troy still has a lot of allies. He’ll have the mayor of New Orleans and JP Morrell. He still has legislators who are friends. He has considerable support among voters.”