GOP incumbent, newcomer to battle for HD 9

In this fall’s elections a reconstituted state House District 9 looks to draw a challenger in a decidedly uphill intraparty battle.

At the end of the year, businessman Chris Turner sent Christmas greetings to households with zip codes in the district, with part of that indicating his candidacy. That distribution would seem guaranteed to require campaign finance disclosure due to the assumed expense, which would have to occur before the middle of February and give more details about his campaign.

Turner currently is registered as a Republican. He spent decades in the military and law enforcement, mostly and most recently working for the U.S. Marshals service before retiring last year to open a combination liquor store and specialty meat market.

This would set up a clash with two-term GOP state Rep. Dodie Horton, who also served prior to that as a legislative assistant for her predecessor GOP former state Rep. Henry Burns. Through social media, Horton has indicated she plans on running for a final term.

She’ll have to do it in a district that differs a bit from the one she has represented since 2015. The district as it will stand for the rest of the year includes west central and southern Bossier City, Haughton, and extends somewhat northeast and between Highways 527 and 528 east to the parish line. Starting in 2024, it loses its southwestern reaches, making the district somewhat less urban. Still, the bulk of the district remains, just shrunken in land area, so it’s not like Horton has to introduce herself to new potential constituents.

That and her record makes Turner’s task daunting. The district is one of the most ideologically conservative in the state, with a Republican registration of 46.9 percent. That proportion actually dropped in its new form to 44.5 percent.

And Horton more than caters to those wishes. Four legislative scorecards rate her pretty conservatively over the past term. For the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, she scored an average of 93; for the Louisiana Family Forum, 91; for the American Conservative Union (excluding 2022) 83; and for the Louisiana Legislature Log, 95. Comparatively, she would fit easily onto the top 20 most conservative representatives.

Further, Horton has put herself front and center on some high-profile issues for conservatives, both at the state and local levels. Last term, she sponsored a bill, unsuccessful because of weak-kneed Republican leadership, that would have prevented classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through 8th grade and prohibited instruction that is not age appropriate for students. The year before, she successfully wrote into statute a law bringing more accountability to the fast-and-loose, under-the-radar Cypress Black Bayou Recreation and Water Conservation District in the parish.

So, it won’t be easy for Turner or anybody else to run to the right of her. Some $76,000 her campaign had banked at the end of 2021 adds to the difficulty. And it’s uncertain how Turner’s campaign will be affected by the unusual fact that fewer than 100 miles to the east already a Republican named Chris Turner sits representing District 12.

Still, even if the Bossier version can’t pull the upset, it could set up a run in 2027 to succeed her. District voters this time will appear to have a choice.