After roughly seven years on the East Baton Rouge Metro Council, Jen Racca announced she will be running for Justice of the Peace in the November election.
“The law and courtrooms have always been my passion,” Racca said in a statement Monday morning. “I am confident that as Justice of the Peace I am equipped to provide exceptional, efficient service and impartial verdicts.”
Justice of the Peace officials handle disputes involving less than $5,000, matters between landlords and tenants — including evictions — and other legal issues.
Earlier this year, the parish went from eight justice of the peace districts to six. The District 6 seat Racca is running for is made up of areas including Downtown, Mid City, South Baton Rouge, Gardere and Oak Hills.
Council , one of Racca’s Republican colleagues, also recently announced he was running for mayor of Central.
Racca will face at least one opponent in Robert Ainsworth, an attorney at the Andrew Murrell Law Firm, who announced his candidacy for the seat last week.
Racca was appointed to the Metro Council in November 2019 after Barbara Freiberg ran for the h House of Representatives. She won the seat in an election the following year and ran unopposed for her second term in 2024.
“Serving on the Metro Council has been one of my greatest honors,” Racca said. “It has given me the opportunity to work directly for our community and tackle difficult problems.”
In recent years on the council, Racca has prioritized city-parish employee insurance reform, city-parish finances and efforts to streamline the blight abatement program.
Racca is an attorney practicing in family and criminal law.
If elected, Racca said she will focus on ensuring the office is “accessible, efficient, respectful and responsive” to the people who need it.
Metro Council seats are not up for reelection until 2028. If Racca is elected to her new office in November, an interim council member will need to be appointed to fill her District 12 seat within 20 days. Then, a special election would take place in April to fill the seat through the end of the term.