The lobby bar at the Hilton hotel in the nation’s capital is renamed The 65th Parish during Washington Mardi Gras, where scores of Louisiana politicos and officials have gathered Jan. 23-25, 2025, to talk business and celebrate the carnival season. (Piper Hutchinson/Louisiana Illuminator)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — A freak winter storm the day before Washington Mardi Gras transformed Louisiana’s most wealthy, most powerful politicos into something they aren’t often: desperate. Beggars, in some cases.
Despite warnings from Gov. Jeff Landry to stay off the icy roads, despite numerous flight cancellations across the South due to the storm, burst pipes and cancelled school days, the most dedicated of Louisiana’s political class made it to the nation’s capital city for the can’t-miss political event.
The standard greeting at this year’s Washington Mardi Gras: “How’d you manage with the weather?”
In response, those fortunate enough to make the wintry trek shared their harrowing tales. A lobbyist begging her way through airport security, trying to get to her gate in time to make it on the flight. Another driving on ice for the first time. A lawmaker who got on a flight in the nick of time after his original flight was cancelled.
Still, others made a desperate drive to Alexandria, Shreveport or Jackson, Mississippi, to get on a flight when those in Baton Rouge and New Orleans were cancelled.
But despite the record-breaking snow across South Louisiana, the party is still going on.
Stragglers who managed to make it to the nation’s capital for the 75th annual Washington Mardi Gras were met with conditions not unlike those they left back home — too cold for most Louisianians’ comfort.
But warm refuge could be found in the Washington Hilton, which has hosted the annual circus for years. The lobby and the hotel bar — temporarily renamed “The 65th parish” — seemed fairly chaotic to a Washington Mardi Gras novice.
A veteran attendee, Louisiana Tech President Jim Henderson, corrected that notion. In a typical year, the Hilton would be so packed that one could hardly move through the halls, he said. But enough people were stranded by the snow, including several other university presidents, that the halls were navigable, the perfect density for shaking hands, slapping backs and grabbing drinks.
State Rep. Kyle Green, D-Marrero, estimated Friday’s attendance at about 40% of what it usually is.
But the revelry didn’t come without complications. Most who attend the event also plan meetings with Louisiana’s congressional delegation or federal agencies. Those who made it in on Thursday or Friday reported having to reschedule their early week meetings.
Among those who had to reschedule their week was the governor, who flew back from Washington — missing President Trump’s Monday inauguration — to be present for the winter storm. Landry missed two fundraisers scheduled for him in the process.
Weather complications were not limited to meetings. Rep. Dustin Miller, D-Opelousas, said he got word of a busted pipe at his house as he attended the festivities.
By midday Friday, Landry was at the Washington Hilton and in a vibrant mood. Practically dashing between events, he didn’t stop for questions but shared a handshake with a reporter on his way to embrace a fellow Republican, U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, before the pair disappeared into a closed event.
Among those who were circulating around the hotel was former Loiusiana Secretary of Transportation Shawn Wilson, a Democrat who Landry defeated in the October 2023 election for governor.
Wilson said he is enjoying his post-public service life. As transportation secretary under former Gov. John Bel Edwards, it was usually his job to tell people to stay off the roads when severe weather hit.
“I would be in the [Unified Command Group], and I’d see people driving in the storm and I’d think, ‘Who are these idiots driving on the road?’” Wilson said.
But the appeal of being with his grandkids for their first snow day convinced him to get behind the wheel.
“I am that idiot now,” Wilson said, laughing.
While Wilson is officially out of the game — for now, at least — his presence at the event indicated politics had not quite left him behind, though Wilson said his new job as an executive with the engineering consulting firm WSP brought him to Washington.
Festivities will continue until the early hours of Sunday after the main event ball Saturday night. Afterwards, Louisiana’s political creatures will disperse back to their home parishes to recover from the week’s events — and deal with whatever damage the storm left behind.
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