Cleo Fields

Cleo Fields
Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 14th district
Incumbent
Assumed office January 2020

While still in law school, Fields began his first campaign for Louisiana State Senate, doing most of the organizational work himself and writing his own jingles for radio commercials. Fields began by building a base with college students in his campaign against longtime incumbent Richard Turnley. To the surprise of some experts, he unseated Turnley, who in the Commercial-Appeal referred to Fields as "a very ambitious young man and an astute campaigner." ^[5]

U.S. House of Representatives

Fields served in the state Senate for six years. In 1990, he entered the nonpartisan blanket primary for the 8th District, but was defeated in the first round by incumbent Republican Clyde Holloway.

Congressional photo of Representative Cleo Fields.

He ran again in 1992, this time in the newly-created 4th District, a 63 percent black majority district stretching in a "Z" shape from Shreveport to Baton Rouge. He finished first in a crowded seven-way primary, coming roughly 1,500 votes short of winning outright. He was forced into a runoff against fellow state senator Charles D. Jones of Monroe, which Fields won with more than 73 percent of the vote. At thirty, he was once again the youngest legislator. He advanced his agenda in Congress through the House Small Business Committee, the House Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Committee, the Housing and Community Opportunity Committee, and several others.

Fields was a staunch liberal while in Congress. He received a 0 percentage rating by the Christian Coalition and the Competitive Enterprise Institute. Meanwhile, progressive interest groups such as the National Abortion Rights Action League, PeacePAC, and the American Public Health Association, as well as a range of labor-affiliated organizations, gave him a perfect rating. His efforts as a legislator often involved channeling funds into education and protecting consumers from the excesses of insurers, banks, and other such institutions. Congressional Quarterly noted that Fields "has tried to use his seats on the Banking Committee and the Small Business Committee to leverage capital for small businesses willing to relocate in his district, where poverty rates are high." Though he made many political enemies with his voting record, his personal standing in Congress remained high. When his first child was born in 1995, he won cheers from his colleagues on the floor. ^[6]

Fields' district was designed to collect a larger black populace — and more black votes — than a competing version. After various challenges, referrals to higher courts, and redraws, Fields was finally able to run in his custom-designed district and trounced a nominal Republican challenger in 1994. His district woes were far from over, however, and the district was ultimately thrown out by the Supreme Court as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. His home in Baton Rouge was placed in the 6th District of Republican Richard Baker, while the northern portions were split between the 4th and 5th districts.

1995 Louisiana gubernatorial election

Main article: 1995 Louisiana gubernatorial election

In 1995 he became a candidate for Louisiana governor. Many in his party were angered by his candidacy, since most felt that a black challenger could not seriously win the office and Mason-Dixon Polling released on October 17, 1995 showed Fields to be the loser in every possible head-to-head combination of candidates.^{[ citation needed ]} He narrowly beat the top two white Democratic candidates in the primary and made it to a runoff with Republican Mike Foster. Though race had been a preeminent factor during his Congressional redistricting fight, Fields vowed not to emphasize color in the election, proclaiming, "I'm not running to be the African American governor, but to be the best governor," in a speech excerpted in the Chicago Tribune . "Don't vote for me because I'm black, ... don't vote against me because I'm black." His remarks in the Los Angeles Times continued this theme: "When a baby cries, it's not a white baby or a black baby — it's a hungry baby," he asserted. "When people cry for job opportunities, they're not black or white — they're unemployed." He was also outspoken in his support for gun control, which Foster opposed.

Foster's conservative message, designed by media consultant Roy Fletcher, who also had handled Cleo Fields' campaign for Congress, resonated with Louisiana's voters, who in a previous election had given former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke nearly 40 percent of the popular vote. As the polls predicted, Fields was defeated soundly in the runoff. Exit polling showed that 95% of his votes came from the black community.^{[ citation needed ]} During this race Fields began a feud with fellow Democrat Mary Landrieu who did not endorse him in the second round. Like many, she believing his bid had been funded by Republicans and was intended to be a spoiler to let Foster win. Fields retaliated by labeling her campaign racist and refusing to endorse her in her later race for United States Senate.

Louisiana Senate

In 1997, Fields was again elected to the Louisiana Senate for the 14th district. He served at the same time as his brother Wilson until Wilson Fields won a judgeship, the first time in Louisiana history that two brothers served together in the Senate.

Fields served until he became ineligible to run for re-election because of term limits. An amendment to the term limits law was meant to have enabled him to run for another term, but the new law was invalidated by the Louisiana Supreme Court. He was succeeded in 2008 by Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb.

In 2019, Dorsey-Colomb was herself term-limited, and Fields ran to succeed her. On October 12, 2019, Fields was re-elected to the 14th senatorial district, making history again by becoming the first person in Louisiana to return to the Senate for the third time. He defeated State Representative Patricia Haynes Smith with 53% of the vote.

Controversy

In 1997, Fields was caught on an FBI surveillance tape stuffing about $20,000 in cash in his pockets after accepting it from then Governor Edwin Edwards. Fields was not charged with a crime. ^[7] It was later revealed that Fields had abused his congressional franking privileges by sending newsletters to his district, at a cost of about $46,000, paid for by taxpayers, that were used for his gubernatorial bid. ^[8]

2024 campaign to return to Congress

See also: 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana § District 6

In 2023, federal courts ruled that Louisiana's Congressional map, drawn after the 2020 census, was an unlawful racial gerrymander and that a second majority Black seat needed to be drawn to comply with the Voting Rights Act. ^[9] The new map, featuring a second majority Black district numbered the 6th district, was finalized on January 23, 2024, and signed into law by Governor Jeff Landry. ^[10] Fields announced his candidacy for the 6th district the same day. ^[2]

Personal life

Relationship with Edwin Edwards

In the 1997 trial of former Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards, prosecutors released an FBI surveillance videotape showed him receiving a large amount of cash ($20,000 to $25,000) which the FBI believed was to be used to influence votes in granting casino licenses. Fields was named an "unindicted co-conspirator," ^[11] but was never formally charged. Jim Letten, leader of the prosecution team and later acting U.S. attorney, said Fields came close to being indicted. ^[12] At the time, Fields stated that the incident was just an innocent business transaction between friends, and said there was a humorous explanation, which he would make public shortly thereafter. A cloud hung over Fields in Edwards' criminal trial and in the end Fields refused to deliver the promised "humorous" explanation, stating that at the time of the cash transfer, he was not an elected official, and therefore under no obligation to explain publicly. ^{[13] [14]}

"Rosa Parks sat...."

Fields is credited with the original version of a quotation that became popular following Barack Obama's victory in the 2008 presidential election. At the "State of the Black Union 2008" symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana in February 2008, Fields said, "Rosa Parks sat down so we could stand up. Martin Luther King marched so Jesse Jackson could run. Jesse Jackson ran so Obama could win." ^[15] Another version has Fields saying, "W. E. B. Du Bois taught so that Rosa Parks could take a seat. Rosa took a seat so we all could take a stand. We all took a stand so that Martin Luther King Jr. could march. Martin marched so Jesse Jackson could run. Jesse ran so Obama could WIN." ^[16] Fields's statement was shortened by the rapper Jay-Z in "My President Is Black": "Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther could walk/ Martin Luther walked so Barack Obama could run/ Barack Obama ran so all the children could fly." ^[17]

Elections

Louisiana gubernatorial nonpartisan primary, 1995

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Foster	385,267	26.10
	Democratic	Cleo Fields	280,921	19.03
	Democratic	Mary Landrieu	271,938	18.43
	Republican	Buddy Roemer	263,330	17.84
	Democratic	Phil Preis	133,271	9.03
	Democratic	Melinda Schwegmann	71,288	4.83
	Democratic	Robert Adley	27,534	1.87
	Independent	Arthur D. "Jim" Nichols	16,616	1.13
	Democratic	Gene H. Alexander	5,688	0.39
	Independent	Kenneth Woods	4,964	0.34
	Independent	Darryl Paul Ward	4,210	0.29
	Democratic	Belinda Alexandrenko	3,161	0.21
	Independent	Lonnie Creech	2,338	0.16
	Independent	Ronnie Glynn Johnson	1,884	0.13
	Independent	Anne Thompson	1,416	0.1
Total votes			1,473,826	100

Louisiana gubernatorial election runoff, 1995

Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Mike Foster	984,499	63.5
	Democratic	Cleo Fields	565,861	36.5
Total votes			1,550,360	100
	Republican gain from Democratic

See also

• List of African-American United States representatives

References

1. "FIELDS, Cleo". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress . Retrieved April 2, 2024.
2. "Cleo Fields announces run for Congress in new 2nd Black majority district". WAFB. 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
3. "Louisiana State Senate - Cleo Fields's Biography". senate.la.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
4. "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details". bioguideretro.congress.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
5. "LLBC". house.louisiana.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
6. "FIELDS, Cleo | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
7. Illuminator, Louisiana (January 24, 2024). "ICYMI: Cleo Fields running for Congress in Louisiana's new 6th District".
8. Gill, James. "James Gill: Cleo Fields' past continues to haunt him as he tries to reclaim old state Senate seat". NOLA.com. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
9. Lo Wang, Hansi (December 15, 2023). "Appeals court keeps in place a January deadline for a new Louisiana congressional map". NPR. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
10. Ryan, Molly (January 23, 2024). "After a court fight, Louisiana's new congressional map boosts Black political power". NPR. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
11. Times- Picayune, August 7, 2002
12. Times-Picayune, July 10, 2002
13. ^[ permanent dead link ] DuBos, Clancy, "Questions for Cleo", Gambit Weekly newspaper / Best of New Orleans web site, October 24, 2000
14. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2008-10-23. Retrieved 2008-10-17. DuBos, Clancy and Sam Winston, "An Epic Tale", Gambit Weekly newspaper / Best of New Orleans web site, March 21, 2006
15. "STATE OF THE BLACK UNION 2008 EXAMINES ROLE OF AFRICAN AMERICANS IN PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS" (PDF) (Press release). Tavis Smiley Presents. February 23, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 14, 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
16. Hershkovits, David (January 23, 2009). "Sourcing the quote: 'Rosa Parks sat so Martin Luther King could walk. Martin Luther King walked so Obama could run. Obama ran so we can all fly.'". Paper . Archived from the original on January 29, 2009.
17. Jokesta (January 20, 2009). "Jay-Z Talks 'My President Is Black' Remix, Blue Print 3 Delay". DefSounds. Archived from the original on January 21, 2009. Retrieved 2009-01-25.

External links

• Louisiana state senate webpage
• United States Congress. "Cleo Fields (id: F000110)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress .
• Appearances on C-SPAN

Louisiana State Senate
Preceded by Richard Turnley	Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 14th district 1988–1993	Succeeded by John Guidry
Preceded by John Guidry	Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 14th district 1998–2008	Succeeded by Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb
Preceded by Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb	Member of the Louisiana Senate from the 14th district 2020–present	Incumbent
U.S. House of Representatives
Preceded by Jim McCrery	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th congressional district 1993–1997	Succeeded by Jim McCrery
Honorary titles
Preceded by Jim Nussle	Baby of the House 1993–1995	Succeeded by Patrick Kennedy
Party political offices
Preceded by Edwin Edwards	Democratic nominee for Governor of Louisiana 1995	Succeeded by Bill Jefferson
U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial)
Preceded by Anthony Gonzalez as Former US Representative	Order of precedence of the United States as Former US Representative	Succeeded by Edward A. Pease as Former US Representative