Rep. Norton, Barbara M. (D)
District# 3, Shreveport

• District # 3: House District 1
• Party: Democrat 
• Caucus Membership: Democratic Caucus
  Louisiana Legislative Black Caucus
  Louisiana Legislative Women's Caucus
  
• Occupation: Retired from AT&T
  
• Education: Booker T. Washington High School, Shreveport, Louisiana; Louisiana State University, Shreveport, legal course
  
• Spouse: Single
• Year Elected: 2007
• Last Year Eligible(Term Limit): 2020
• 2007 Election
  Barbara Norton avoided a runoff by defeating two opponents, community educator and Caddo Parish Commissioner Lindora Baker and business owner Spencer Stevens, in the primary election with fifty-six percent of the vote. All three candidates are Democrats, and the main issues in the campaign were high dropout rates, lack of affordable health care and the need for more housing and business. Norton was no stranger to a campaign for state representative, as she unsuccessfully ran for this seat twice against her predecessor Ernest Baylor, who held this seat for twelve years and was term-limited, in 1995 and in 2003—only losing by two hundred fifty-one votes in the latter election.
  

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• Economic: Primarily an industrial area, this district has several factories and other distribution and service businesses. The Shreveport Regional Airport is located in this district, and it employs some of the district’s residents. Two of the major employers in this district are the Libby Glass Company, where a variety of glass products are manufactured, and the Atlas Processing Company, where refined petroleum products are produced. Shreveport’s aging industrial area makes up most of this district.
• Social: Some of the residents in this district are poor and dependent upon government services with a high unemployment rate and welfare enrollment. However, this district is not as poor as its neighbor, District 2. A high crime rate and drug-related gang activity plague the district. Still, there are a good number of residents, both African-American and white, which are working class and blue-collar.
• Political: More than eighty percent of registered voters are African American, and the district is predominantly Democratic. Voters are primarily concerned with issues such as crime and jobs.

• Serving as a community activist for decades, Barbara Norton is now retired from AT&T. Former vice chair of the Louisiana Democratic Party, Norton also is a member of the Northwest Louisiana Regional Board of Women in Government. Founder of the Mooretown Community Library, she has received numerous recognitions and awards for her community service, including the Louisiana Women Hall of Fame, 100 Faces in America, Martin Luther King, Jr. award, Citizen of the Year and Mayor for a Day, Shreveport. Norton is also a radio show host for KOKA 980 AM and the community liaison for Praise Temple Full Gospel Baptist Church.
• Focusing on children, senior citizens, education, health care and economic development are Norton’s top priorities. As for education, Norton wants to study poor school attendance and mounting dropout rates and find out how to separate the older failing kids from the younger kids in the classroom. Norton plans to address health care through education by educating people about health care programs that are available to them and by making sure that the LSU Health Sciences Center in Shreveport can take care of people. Norton believes that the keys to economic development are property standards and revitalization.
• In the 2009 session, she increased compensation for inmates who are participating in certain programs or who are certified academic tutors and pushed a bill that would have prohibited corporal punishment in public elementary and secondary schools. She also ushered in minimum safety guidelines for the state construction of highways.