Prior to 1974, the 1st congressional district was entirely south of Lake Pontchartrain. As a result of population changes reflected in the 1970 U.S. census and a concern to ensure that the 2nd congressional district was majority African American, the district was redrawn to include the Northshore.[citation needed] This was done to comply with the Voting Rights Act,[citation needed] passed in 1965 to enforce constitutional rights of minorities in voting, including the opportunity to elect a representative of their choosing and to redistrict after censuses.
In 1974, the state legislature redefined the 1st congressional district, dropping its precincts south of the lake and adding St. Tammany Parish, which borders Lake Pontchartrain on the north, from the 6th congressional district. Subsequently, the 1st congressional district acquired Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, both north of the lake, from the 6th congressional district.
Correspondingly, the 1st congressional district shed conservative St. Bernard Parish and other areas south of the lake to the 3rd congressional district from 1983 through 2013. Overall, the 1st congressional district has become a very safe district for the Republican Party.[4] Before the 1960s, it was controlled by Democrats, but conservative whites realigned with the Republican Party.[citation needed]
The number of registered voters north of the lake is, as of 2008, slightly higher than south of the lake; however, the 1st congressional district has yet to be represented by a resident from north of Lake Pontchartrain.[5] The reformulation of the 1st congressional district so that it virtually surrounds "the nation's second-largest saltwater lake" has generated a local joke that in the 1st congressional district of Louisiana, the voters are outnumbered by the fish.
The seat was previously held by former governorBobby Jindal, who was elected after David Vitter retired to run for the U.S. Senate. Republicans have held the seat since 1977. That year Bob Livingston won a special election after Richard A. Tonry, who won the seat in 1976, was forced to resign the seat and lost the Democratic primary in the special election.
From 2003 to 2013, the district comprised mostly land on the North Shore and South Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, although it also contained areas west of Lake Pontchartrain. The district included some or all of the following parishes: Washington, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Jefferson, Orleans and St. Charles. It also included the cities of Hammond and Slidell and most of the western suburbs of New Orleans, including Metairie and Kenner, along with a small portion of the city itself. The district had the lowest percentage of African-American residents among the state's six-district Congressional delegation.
In 2013, St. Bernard and neighboring Plaquemines Parishes were returned to the first district after nearly 30 years in the Third. The First also picked up much of Lafourche Parish and the southernmost portion of Terrebonne Parish for the first time.
↑ He was elected along with Michael Hahn, assuming the seat left vacant after J. E. Bouligny's term expired in 1861. Flanders and Hahn were not seated in Congress until the last fifteen days of their terms in February 1863.
↑ There were so many irregularities in the 1868 election that Congress threw it out. Sypher won the second round.
↑ Sypher's 1872 re-election was successfully contested by Effingham Lawrence. Sypher lost, but only after the original returns were certified in his favor. After protracted court intervention, Lawrence was declared elected, but just one day (March 3, 1875) remained in the term, and in the meantime Lawrence had lost the 1874 election to Democrat Randall Lee Gibson.
Recent election results
2002
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2002)
Interstate 12 (I-12) is an intrastate Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Louisiana. It spans a total of 85.59 miles (137.74 km) in an east–west direction from I-10 in Baton Rouge to an interchange with both I-10 and I-59 in Slidell. Along the way, it passes through the city of Hammond, where it intersects I-55 and US Route 51 (US 51). It also serves the cities of Ponchatoula and Denham Springs, as well as the St. Tammany Parish cities of Covington and Mandeville.
Tangipahoa Parish is a parish located on the southeastern border of the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 133,157. The parish seat is Amite City, while the largest city is Hammond. Southeastern Louisiana University is located in Hammond. Lake Pontchartrain borders the southeastern side of the parish.
St. Tammany Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana named after Tamanend, the legendary Lenape Chief of Chiefs and the "Patron Saint of America." At the 2020 census, the population was 264,570, making it the fourth-most populous parish in Louisiana. The parish seat is Covington. The parish was founded in 1810.
Lake Pontchartrain is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of 630 square miles (1,600 km2) with an average depth of 12 to 14 feet. Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about 40 miles (64 km) from west to east and 24 miles (39 km) from south to north.
Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge. The district is currently represented by Democrat Troy Carter. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+25, it is the only Democratic district in Louisiana.
Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a United States congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district covers the southwestern and south central portion of the state, ranging from the Texas border to the Atchafalaya River.
Louisiana's 6th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Located in south-central Louisiana, the district contains most of the state capital of Baton Rouge, the bulk of Baton Rouge's suburbs, and continues south to Thibodaux. It also includes the western shores of Lake Pontchartrain.
Louisiana's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The 5th district encompasses rural northeastern Louisiana and much of central Louisiana, as well as the northern part of Louisiana's Florida parishes in southeastern Louisiana, taking in Monroe, Alexandria, Amite and Bogalusa.
Effingham Lawrence was an American politician known for serving for the shortest term in congressional history, serving - along with George A. Sheridan—for just one day in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The politics of Louisiana involve political parties, laws and the state constitution, and the many other groups that influence the governance of the state. The state was a one-party Deep South state dominated by the Democratic Party from the end of Reconstruction to the 1960s, forming the backbone of the "Solid South." This was due to the near-total disenfranchisement of the state's large African-American population during this time, who mostly voted Republican. The Civil Rights era turned the state into a competitive one on the federal level, as it voted for the nationwide winner in every election between 1972 and 2004. It remained Democratic on the state and local level until the turn of the 21st century, allowing Republicans to win control of the state legislature and every statewide office in 2011. Republicans won a United States Senate seat for Louisiana in the election of 2004, for the first time since 1876. Republicans captured both seats in the election of 2014 for the first time since 1872. In the election of 2008, the state voted for a losing presidential candidate for the first time since 1968. Democrats won less than 40% of the presidential popular vote in the state in the elections of 2016 and 2020.
Jacob Hale Sypher was an attorney and politician, elected as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives representing Louisiana. He served four terms as a Republican, after having served in the Union Army during the American Civil War.
Mississippi's 4th congressional district covers the southeastern region of the state. It includes all of Mississippi's Gulf Coast, stretching ninety miles between the Alabama border to the east and the Louisiana border to the west, and extends north into the Pine Belt region. It includes three of Mississippi's four most heavily populated cities: Gulfport, Biloxi, and Hattiesburg. Other major cities within the district include Bay St. Louis, Laurel, and Pascagoula. The district is currently represented by Republican Mike Ezell. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+22, it is the most Republican district in Mississippi.
Louisiana Highway 1077 (LA 1077) is a state highway located in southeastern Louisiana. It runs 20.61 miles (33.17 km) in a general north–south direction from a dead end at Lake Pontchartrain in Madisonville to a junction with LA 25 south of Folsom.
Ánh Quang "Joseph" Cao is a Vietnamese–American politician who was the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 2nd congressional district from 2009 to 2011. A member of the Republican Party, he is the first Vietnamese American and first native of Vietnam to serve in Congress.
The 2020 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana were held on November 3, 2020, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Louisiana, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.
Louisiana's 6th State Senate district is one of 39 districts in the Louisiana State Senate. It has been represented by Republican Bodi White since 2012.
Louisiana's 11th State Senate district is one of 39 districts in the Louisiana State Senate. It has been represented by Republican Patrick McMath since 2020.
Louisiana's 12th State Senate district is one of 39 districts in the Louisiana State Senate. It has been represented by Republican Beth Mizell since 2016.
The 2022 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana were held on November 8, 2022, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Louisiana, one from each of the state's six congressional districts. The elections coincided with other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate and various state and local elections.
↑ Several residents of the northlake area (eastern Florida Parishes) served in Congress to represent the 6th congressional district before it ceded territory to the 1st congressional district.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
