Cleo Fields
Cleo Fields | |
---|---|
Louisiana Senate from the 14th district | |
Assumed office January 2020 | |
Preceded by | Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb |
In office December 1997 – January 2008 | |
Preceded by | John Michael Guidry |
Succeeded by | Yvonne Dorsey-Colomb |
In office March 1988 – January 3, 1993 | |
Preceded by | Richard Turnley |
Succeeded by | John Guidry |
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 4th district | |
In office January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997 | |
Preceded by | Jim McCrery (redistricting) |
Succeeded by | John Cooksey (redistricting) |
Personal details | |
Born | Baton Rouge, Louisiana, US | November 22, 1962
Political party | Democratic |
Spouse | Debra Horton |
Children | 2 |
Education | Southern University (BA, JD) |
Cleo Fields (born November 22, 1962)
Fields was born in
Fields was elected to represent Louisiana's 4th congressional district in the House of Representatives in 1992 and re-elected in 1994. He ran for governor in 1995, coming second in the
Fields was elected to the State Senate in 1997 and re-elected in 2003, then running unsuccessfully for the Louisiana Public Service Commission in 2004. On October 1, 2007, the Louisiana State Supreme Court ruled that Fields could not stand for re-election to his State Senate seat because of term limits. The state legislature had passed a law in 2006 that had defined the date of the swearing in of Fields and of the intended beneficiary, Shreveport Republican Wayne Waddell, in a way that would have allowed Fields and Waddell to stand for re-election in November 2007 and serve one more term, but the court ruled the law unconstitutional. He was elected to the seat again in 2019.
On January 23, 2024, Fields announced a campaign to return to Congress after court-ordered redistricting gave Louisiana a second Black-majority and Democratic-leaning seat.[2]
Early life and education
Fields was born in Port Allen, Louisiana, the seventh of ten children. His dock-worker father died when Fields was four, widowing his mother, Alice. The family then moved to South Baton Rouge.[3]
Fields attended Southern University, earning a Bachelor of Arts degree and Juris Doctor.[4]
Career
This section of a poorly sourced must be removed immediately from the article and its talk page, especially if potentially libelous. )Find sources: "Cleo Fields" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (December 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
He ran again in
Fields was a staunch
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
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
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
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
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 |
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
References
- ^ "FIELDS, Cleo". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress. Retrieved April 2, 2024.
- ^ a b "Cleo Fields announces run for Congress in new 2nd Black majority district". WAFB. 2024-01-23. Retrieved 2024-01-24.
- ^ "Louisiana State Senate - Cleo Fields's Biography". senate.la.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-10-16. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ "Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress - Retro Member details". bioguideretro.congress.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ "LLBC". house.louisiana.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ "FIELDS, Cleo | US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives". history.house.gov. Retrieved 2020-11-18.
- ^ Illuminator, Louisiana (January 24, 2024). "ICYMI: Cleo Fields running for Congress in Louisiana's new 6th District".
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Ryan, Molly (January 23, 2024). "After a court fight, Louisiana's new congressional map boosts Black political power". NPR. Retrieved January 23, 2024.
- ^ Times- Picayune, August 7, 2002
- ^ Times-Picayune, July 10, 2002
- Gambit Weeklynewspaper / Best of New Orleans web site, October 24, 2000
- Gambit Weeklynewspaper / Best of New Orleans web site, March 21, 2006
- ^ "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.
- ^ 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.
- ^ 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
- United States Congress. "Cleo Fields (id: F000110)". Biographical Directory of the United States Congress.
- Appearances on C-SPAN