It's not partisan. I think she is a weak link and pretty much disregarded by most in the Senate. The one female that got us that royalty agreement was Katrina, and the feelings of guilt prevailing in DC at the time. To Mary's credit, she was able to use those guilty feelings in spite of the best efforts of Madame Governor, who with her threats and lawsuits almost managed to disipate the pity that had built up to that point.
And J. Bennett Johnston, what did he do for the State but get a giant ditch dug to Shreveport at the cost of God knows how much money. That Corps money(nearly $2 billion) might have been better spent, say, building an effective levee system around New Orleans, perhaps?