Cleo Fields isn’t seeking reelection after redistricting. The race for his seat looks wide open.
U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields announces his decision to run for 14th Senatorial District seat on Friday, July 24, 2026 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Staff photo by Michael Johnson
Two years after his election, U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields chose not to run again this year for a simple reason.
Republican state legislators redrew his 6th District’s boundaries in May, and Fields, one of the state’s best-known Democrats, didn’t think he could win a congressional district that remains anchored in Baton Rouge but now strongly favors a Republican.
That has not stopped three Democrats from running for the seat. They are Chauna Banks, who served 12 years on the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council; Pat Forbes, who spent 20 years in high-level state government positions for three governors; and Lindsay Garcia, a former social studies teacher in New Orleans who obtained a law degree from Southern University last year.
The three are facing an uphill battle in an open primary that includes state Sen. Rick Edmonds, R…