Sen. Karen Carter Peterson (D)
District# 5,

• District # 5: House District 0
• Party:
• Caucus Membership: --
• Occupation: Attorney
• Education: Mercy Academy; B.BA. International Business/Marketing, Howard University, Washington, D.C.; Boston College Law School; University of Virginia School of Law; J.D., Tulane Law School
• Spouse: Dana
• Year Elected: 2010
• Last Year Eligible(Term Limit): 2020
• 2007 Election
  

• Louisiana Map
• District Map
• Metro Map
• Economic: District 5 encompasses the following areas of New Orleans: Uptown, Central City, the Warehouse District, the Central Business District and parts of Mid-City, Broadmoor and Carrollton. Hurricane Katrina was kinder to this district than many of its neighbors, as minimal flooding occurred. There was some substantial structural damage sustained by businesses and homes, but most of them have been repaired. Many tourist attractions, hotels and the Ernest Morial Convention Center are located in this district. Residents can find a wide variety of employment ranging from business and professional jobs in the CBD to lower-income jobs in the service sector. Xavier University is a large employer in this district.
• Social: The slight majority of residents are African American low-income and middle-class families. A small number of the city’s social elite—upper-income white families—reside in this district as well.
• Political: With over half of the population in this district being African American, it remains largely Democratic. Among longshoremen, seamen and construction workers, unions still have some influence. There are a few white, upper-class Republicans in the district.
  

• A personal friend of President Barack Obama and formerly the House speaker pro tempore, Karen Carter Peterson has earned a reputation for being the driving force behind Democratic policy in the Legislature and for serving as the heart and soul of the Legislative Black Caucus. As the state grapples with record budget shortfalls, Peterson has emerged as a voice for revenue-generating measures, often facing off against Gov. Bobby Jindal’s administration. In recent years, she has pursued taxes on cigarettes and a delay in certain income tax breaks to help the state find badly-needed revenues.
  
  Following Hurricane Katrina in 2005, she played an instrumental role in consolidating the area’s levee boards and repeatedly introduced legislation to stabilize and reign in the chaotic state insurance industry. Both issues continue to be policy goals for Peterson. In her upcoming term, she hopes to secure money for the rebuilding of government buildings, such as fire and police stations and libraries, and tackle long overdue renovations to hospitals and schools. Education is an important issue in Senate District 5. Peterson’s past initiatives in this area include requiring social workers to be employed in failing schools and mandatory continuing education for certified teachers.
  
  Her knowledge of the law and the political process is practically unparalleled, especially in the New Orleans region. Her father was one of New Orleans’s first African-America tax assessors and a prominent political figure in the city, and she is a political protégé of Jim Singleton, a former city councilman and the leader of the powerful Black Organization for Leadership Development, also known as BOLD. An attorney who started her public career as politician opposing the establishment, Peterson is now one of the powerbrokers in the Crescent City.