REPLACING:

Garret Graves (R)

WORK HISTORY:

Louisianan State Senate (Member, District 14); U.S. House of Representatives (Member, 4^th Congressional District) [i]

EDUCATION:

Diploma, McKinley Senior High School (Baton Rouge); Bachelor’s, Southern University and A&M College; JD, Southern University Law Center [ii]

CAMPAIGNED ON:

Minimum Wage; Education; Economic Development [iii] 

On the Issues

REPRODUCTIVE RIGHTS:

According to the Times-Picayune, Fields has consistently voted for abortion rights, including in April 2022, when he voted against an abortion pill restriction measure. [iv] [v] However, he has a 48% pro-life voting record with Louisiana Right to Life. [vi]

IMMIGRATION & BORDER SECURITY:

In 1996, Fields voted for the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act, a bill that sought to crack down on illegal immigration at the border, in the workplace, and in the criminal justice system. The Vera Institute has said the consequences of this law have been “nothing short of devastating,” citing its provisions that created more categories of people who would be subject to deportation and mandatory immigration detention, including for minor transgressions like drug possession or shoplifting. [vii] [viii]

ECONOMY & JOBS:

Fields campaigned on raising the federal minimum wage, citing Louisiana’s place on “every list for poverty.” He supports a “concerted effort” to attract manufacturing facilities to his district and has argued there is a shortage of tech jobs in Louisiana. [ix] [x] During the Clinton administration, Fields cosponsored a bill that would have required an assessment of NAFTA, further negotiation of certain provisions, and withdrawal from NAFTA unless specified conditions were met and certified to. [xi]

TAXES:

In 1996, Fields introduced a bill that would amend IRS code to exclude from gross income up to $5,000 of unearned income. [xii] He also introduced a bill to create a National Education Trust Fund that would collect a five percent tax on the net payment of wagering proceeds paid during any calendar quarter. [xiii]

CRIME & PUBLIC SAFETY:

In the 2022 Louisiana legislative session, Fields sponsored a bill that purportedly prevents “rogue officers” from being hired by other police departments. [xiv] Fields has said the “solution” to Louisiana’s crime problem is improving schools, arguing, “so many people in jail are dropouts – we just didn’t invest in them early.” [xv] During the Clinton years, Fields first opposed the administration-backed crime bill that expanded the number of federal offenses that would be subject to the death penalty, but later changed his vote after reportedly receiving assurances that there would be no racial bias in deciding when to seek the death penalty. [xvi] He also introduced an amendment in 1995, which failed, that would have transferred $200 million from local law enforcement block grants to crime prevention and model intervention grants programs authorized by the 1994 Crime Control Act. [xvii]

CLIMATE CHANGE, ENERGY & ENVIRONMENT:

Each year since 2020, Fields has introduced a bill in the Louisiana State Legislature to require companies to install fence line monitors on their plants to measure pollutant emissions and report the data publicly. [xviii] Fields advocates with leveraging federal dollars through the USDA to “ensure that our natural resources are utilized to its fullest extent.” [xix] The largest donor to his 2024 campaign was a law firm where he has been counsel, and which represents parish governments suing oil and gas companies. [xx] In 1995, Fields cosponsored a bill that would permit independent natural gas producers to act together in associations. [xxi]

HEALTHCARE & SOCIAL SAFETY NET:

Fields has said he would prioritize lowering the prices of prescription drugs. [xxii] In 1996, he cosponsored the Patient Right to Know Act, which would have prohibited an entity offering a health plan from prohibiting or restricting any medical communication as part of a written contract or agreement with a provider. [xxiii] He also cosponsored the Health Insurance Reform Act of 1996. [xxiv]

DEMOCRACY:

Fields has said it is “imperative that we stay informed and protect our voting rights.” [xxv] His victory was in a newly drawn district crafted by the legislature after a Supreme Court decision that upheld a new majority Black district in Alabama. [xxvi]

SOCIAL ISSUES:

In the most recent Louisiana legislative session, Fields voted against bills that would require teachers to get parental consent to use a student’s preferred pronoun, that would prohibit K-12 teachers from discussing gender or sexual orientation, and that would require students to use the same restroom that aligns with their sex at birth. In 2023, he voted against a bill that would prohibit gender affirming care for minors and against a bill that would limit participation in women’s sports on the basis of one’s assigned sex at birth. [xxvii]