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District Office
Legislative Assistant : Julie Lewis
Email Arnold, Jeffery "Jeff" J.
Phone: (504)361-6600
Fax: (504)361-6603
Address: 3520 General DeGaulle
Suite 3071
New Orleans, LA 70114
Map
Capitol House Switch Band: (225) 342-6945
Capitol House Fax: (225)342-8336
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- District #: House District 1
- Party: Democrat
- Caucus Membership: Democratic Caucus
Louisiana Rural Caucus
Orleans Delegation
- Occupation: Business Consultant; Banking Relationship Mgr.
- Education: Archbishop Shaw High School; Southeastern Louisiana University, B.A., Management, B.A. Marketing and Finance
- Spouse: Christy
- Year Elected: 2002
- Last Year Eligible(Term Limit): 2012
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2007 Election
Facing two opponents in the 2007 primary election, Arnold easily won re-election with sixty-one percent of the vote eliminating the need for a runoff. This was the third time that Arnold handily defeated African-American candidates in a predominantly African-American district; speaking volumes of Arnold, as it is usually difficult for a white candidate to get elected in a majority African-American district.
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Registered Voters by Parish: Orleans 100.0%
Municipalities/Communities Represented: New Orleans
Economic: Encompassing the older sections of Algiers on the west bank of the Mississippi River in Orleans parish, the largest employers in this district are the Naval Support Activity New Orleans and Bollinger Shipyards’ Dry Dock. Many of the residents also commute to downtown New Orleans for work. Still, some of the residents remain in the district for employment by working at retail and service businesses in the area. No flooding occurred in this district after Hurricane Katrina. However, some businesses and homes were damaged and destroyed from the winds, some of which have not yet reopened.
Social: Algiers residents feel a sense of independence from their neighbors on the east bank of the Mississippi River, and that they occupy a low-priority status with Orleans Parish officials. Residents in Algiers have more in common with their Terrytown and Gretna neighbors just across the Jefferson/Orleans parish line on the west bank of the river. Both white and African-American residents are mostly blue-collar workers.
Political: This district consists of a majority of registered Democrats with over sixty percent of the district’s constituents being African-Americans. However, many of middle class residents are conservative, which makes this district somewhat politically balanced.
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- Entering his second full term, Democrat Jeff Arnold is known to be an excellent debater who stands his ground and stands up for local issues. A member of the Ways and Means Committee, Arnold fights hard for his district’s share of money appropriated to Orleans Parish for capital outlay projects.
- Always expecting accountability from government, he wants to create laws that hold elected officials accountable for their actions. Arnold believes in proper spending, which makes him fiscally conservative yet socially compassionate. Although he has voted to abolish “slush” funds, Arnold is not opposed to voting for gaming or taxes if the money raised from them goes to services that people need.
- Though taxes and the assessment process are regular topic areas for Arnold, he also has other varied interests as a lawmaker. For example, on the issue of retirement, Arnold has several bold ideas. He believes the administrative duties of the four state retirement systems should be consolidated into one board of trustees and wants to increase the required percentage of investment trades to Louisiana broker-dealers handling the state’s retirement systems.
- Arnold, a business banker vice president at First Bank and Trust in New Orleans, supports Blueprint Louisiana. Prior to his banking career, Arnold served as an assistant to former New Orleans Mayor Marc Morial for intergovernmental relations. Arnold’s top priority in the legislature has been quality of life, which includes re-population, crime and infrastructure needs. Access to health care for all residents ranks as his second most important issue, and his third is the availability and affordability of insurance. Arnold will continue to work to fully fund the Road Home program. Other ideas that Arnold would like to see passed into law include providing neighborhood clinics and allowing federal healthcare dollars to follow the patient.
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