| Louisiana's 2nd congressional district | |
|---|---|
Interactive map of district boundaries | |
| Representative | |
| Distribution |
|
| Population (2023) | 742,904 [2] |
| Median household income | $48,717 [2] |
| Ethnicity |
|
| Cook PVI | D+25 [3] |
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 one of two Democratic districts in Louisiana. [3]
 | This section needs additional citations for verification .(March 2021) |
Louisiana gained a second district in 1823 as part of the 18th United States Congress. At first it comprised New Orleans and significant populations from surrounding areas. With the growth of population in the urban area, the current district is located mostly within the city of New Orleans.
Since the late 19th century, this has been historically among the most safely Democratic seats in the country, for sharply opposing reasons. During Reconstruction, most African Americans affiliated with the Republican Party and, as a majority, elected Republicans from this district.
White Democrats regained control of the district in 1891, when voter suppression of Republicans was rampant. In 1898 the Democratic-dominated state legislature had disenfranchised most blacks in the state through provisions of a new state constitution that raised barriers to voter registration, such as poll taxes and subjective literacy tests. The Democrats had maintained the political exclusion of blacks for decades. Like most congressional districts in the South, this district consistently voted Democratic from the late 19th century until the late 1960s, because the voters during that time were nearly all white Democrats. Such Democrats created what was known as the Solid South in Congress, exercising power beyond their proportion of the electorate.
From the 1960s onward, however, white conservatives began splitting their tickets and voting Republican, gradually switching outright to the GOP. At the same time, black voters regained the franchise and lent their support to Democrats. Since 1984, the district has been drawn as a black-majority district.
In 2008, after a federal grand jury indicted nine-term incumbent congressman William J. Jefferson on sixteen felony charges related to corruption the year prior, Joseph Cao was elected as the first Republican to represent the 2nd congressional district and most of New Orleans in more than a century. Cao was the first Vietnamese-American U.S. representative elected in the country. He was the only Republican in the 111th Congress to represent a district with a predominantly African-American population. Cao was heavily defeated in 2010 by state representative Cedric Richmond, and the district reverted to its Democratic ways. Richmond defeated nominal Republican challengers in 2012 and 2020, and no Republican even filed from 2014 to 2018.
For most of the period from 1983 to 2013, this district contained nearly all of the city of New Orleans (except for a small portion located in the neighboring 1st congressional district ), and some of its suburbs. In 2003, it was pushed into the West Bank portion of Jefferson Parish and South Kenner, which have a higher proportion of white residents. [4] After the 2010 census, the legislature pushed the 2nd slightly to the west, picking up a portion of Baton Rouge–essentially, most of the capital's majority-black precincts.
The 2024 Allen v. Milligan decision dictated a new majority-black precinct, redrawing the 6th district. The 2nd district loses the Baton Rouge area and the northeast Orleans Parish but now represents the whole of the Iberville and Assumption Parishes, as well as Arabi and Chalmette in St. Bernard Parish. [5]
| Year | Office | Results [6] |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | President | Obama 64% - 34% |
| 2012 | President | Obama 69% - 31% |
| 2016 | President | Clinton 66% - 31% |
| Senate | Campbell 67% - 33% | |
| 2019 | Governor | Bel Edwards 77% - 23% |
| Lt. Governor | Jones 56% - 44% | |
| Attorney General | Jackson 61% - 39% | |
| 2020 | President | Biden 67% - 31% |
| 2023 | Attorney General | Cheek 60% - 40% |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William J. Jefferson (Incumbent) | 90,310 | 63.53 | |
| Democratic | Irma Muse Dixon | 28,480 | 20.03 | |
| Republican | Silky Sullivan | 15,440 | 10.86 | |
| Democratic | Clarence "Buddy" Hunt | 4,137 | 2.91 | |
| Libertarian | Wayne Clement | 3,789 | 2.67 | |
| Total votes | 142,156 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William J. Jefferson (Incumbent) | 173,510 | 79.01 | |
| Republican | Art Schwertz | 46,097 | 20.99 | |
| Total votes | 219,607 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William J. Jefferson (Incumbent) | 28,283 | 30.08 | |
| Democratic | Karen Carter Peterson | 20,364 | 21.66 | |
| Democratic | Derrick D.T. Shepherd | 16,799 | 17.87 | |
| Republican | Joe Lavigne | 12,511 | 13.31 | |
| Democratic | Troy A. Carter | 11,304 | 12.02 | |
| Republican | Eric T. Bradley | 1,159 | 1.23 | |
| Democratic | Regina H Bartholomew | 1,125 | 1.20 | |
| Total votes | 91,545 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | William J. Jefferson (Incumbent) | 35,153 | 56.55 | |
| Democratic | Karen Carter Peterson | 27,011 | 43.45 | |
| Total votes | 62,164 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | Joseph Cao | 33,132 | 49.54 | |||
| Democratic | William J. Jefferson (Incumbent) | 31,318 | 46.83 | |||
| Green | Malik Rahim | 1,883 | 2.82 | |||
| Libertarian | Gregory W. Kahn | 549 | 0.82 | |||
| Total votes | 66,882 | 100.00 | ||||
| Turnout | ||||||
| Republican gain from Democratic | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Cedric Richmond | 83,705 | 64.59 | |||
| Republican | Joseph Cao (Incumbent) | 43,378 | 33.47 | |||
| Independent | Anthony Marquize | 1,876 | 1.45 | |||
| Independent | Jack Radosta | 645 | 0.50 | |||
| Total votes | 129,604 | 100.00 | ||||
| Turnout | ||||||
| Democratic gain from Republican | ||||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Cedric Richmond (Incumbent) | 158,501 | 55.20 | |
| Democratic | Gary Landrieu | 71,916 | 25.00 | |
| Republican | Dwayne Bailey | 38,801 | 13.50 | |
| Republican | Josue Larose | 11,345 | 3.90 | |
| Libertarian | Caleb Trotter | 6,791 | 2.40 | |
| Total votes | 287,354 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | ||||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Cedric Richmond (Incumbent) | 152,201 | 68.69 | |
| Democratic | Gary Landrieu | 37,805 | 17.06 | |
| No Party | David Brooks | 16,327 | 7.37 | |
| Libertarian | Samuel Davenport | 15,237 | 6.88 | |
| Total votes | 221,570 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | 47.6 | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Cedric Richmond (Incumbent) | 198,289 | 69.75 | |
| Democratic | Kip Holden | 57,125 | 20.10 | |
| Democratic | Kenneth Cutno | 28,855 | 10.15 | |
| Total votes | 284,269 | 100.00 | ||
| Turnout | 67.7 | |||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Cedric Richmond (Incumbent) | 190,182 | 80.6 | |
| Independent | Jesse Schmidt | 20,465 | 8.7 | |
| Independent | Belden "Noonie Man" Batiste | 17,260 | 7.3 | |
| Independent | Shawndra Rodriguez | 8,075 | 3.4 | |
| Total votes | 235,982 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Cedric Richmond (Incumbent) | 201,636 | 63.61 | |
| Republican | David Schilling | 47,575 | 15.01 | |
| Democratic | Glenn Adrain Harris | 33,684 | 10.63 | |
| Republican | Sheldon Vincent, Sr. | 15,565 | 4.91 | |
| Independent | Belden "Noonie Man" Batiste | 12,268 | 3.87 | |
| Independent | Colby James | 6,254 | 1.97 | |
| Total votes | 316,982 | 100.0 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Troy Carter | 34,402 | 36.38 | |
| Democratic | Karen Carter Peterson | 21,673 | 22.92 | |
| Democratic | Gary Chambers Jr. | 20,163 | 21.31 | |
| Republican | Claston Bernard | 9,237 | 9.77 | |
| Republican | Chelsea Ardoin | 3,218 | 3.40 | |
| Republican | Greg Lirette | 2,349 | 2.48 | |
| Republican | Sheldon C. Vincent Sr. | 754 | 0.80 | |
| Democratic | Desiree Ontiveros | 699 | 0.74 | |
| Independent | Belden "Noonie Man" Batiste | 598 | 0.63 | |
| Democratic | Harold John | 403 | 0.43 | |
| Libertarian | Mindy McConnell | 323 | 0.34 | |
| Democratic | J. Christopher Johnson | 288 | 0.30 | |
| Democratic | Jenette M. Porter | 244 | 0.26 | |
| Democratic | Lloyd M. Kelly | 122 | 0.13 | |
| No party preference | Brandon Jolicoeur | 94 | 0.10 | |
| Total votes | 94,567 | 100.00 | ||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Troy Carter | 48,513 | 55.25 | |
| Democratic | Karen Carter Peterson | 39,297 | 44.75 | |
| Total votes | 87,810 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Democratic | Troy Carter (incumbent) | 158,120 | 77.1 | |
| Republican | Dan Lux | 46,927 | 22.9 | |
| Total votes | 205,047 | 100.00 | ||
| Democratic hold | ||||
William Jennings Jefferson is an American former politician from Louisiana whose career ended after his corruption scandal and conviction. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives for nine terms from 1991 to 2009 as a member of the Democratic Party. He represented Louisiana's 2nd congressional district, which includes much of the greater New Orleans area. He was elected as the state's first black congressman since the end of Reconstruction.
Richard Hugh Baker is an American politician and lobbyist. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 2008, representing the 6th District of Louisiana as a Republican.
James Alison Hayes is an American politician and lawyer. He is a Republican from Louisiana.
Cleo C. Fields is an American attorney and politician who serves in the United States House of Representatives, currently representing Louisiana's 6th congressional district. He previously represented Louisiana's 4th congressional district from 1993 to 1997 and ran unsuccessfully for governor of Louisiana in 1995. He has served as a member of the Louisiana State Senate on three different occasions. Fields is a member of the Democratic Party.
Louisiana's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district comprises land from the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain south to the Mississippi River delta. It covers most of New Orleans' suburbs, as well as a sliver of New Orleans itself.
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 4th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district is located in the northwestern part of the state and is based in Shreveport-Bossier City. It also includes the cities of Minden, DeRidder, and Natchitoches.
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.
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.
The first round of the Louisiana House election of 2006 were held on Tuesday, November 7, 2006. The terms of all seven Representatives to the United States House of Representatives will expire on January 3, 2007, and will be put up for contest. The winning candidates will serve a two-year term from January 3, 2007, to January 3, 2009. If necessary, a runoff round will be held on December 9, 2006.
Anthony Claude Leach Jr., known as Buddy Leach, was an American businessman, lawyer, military veteran, and Democratic politician from Louisiana. From 1979 to 1981, he served one term as a U.S. representative for Louisiana's 4th congressional district. He also served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives and as chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
The 2004 United States presidential election in Louisiana took place on November 2, 2004, and was part of the 2004 United States presidential election. Voters chose nine representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.
The 2008 congressional elections in Louisiana to determine representation for the state of Louisiana in the United States House of Representatives occurred November 4, 2008. Louisiana has seven seats in the House, apportioned according to the 2000 United States census. Representatives are elected for two-year terms; those elected will serve in the 111th Congress from January 4, 2009, until January 3, 2011. The election coincided with the 2008 U.S. presidential election.
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 2012 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana were held on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 and elected the six U.S. representatives from the state of Louisiana, one from each of the state's six congressional districts, a loss of one seat following reapportionment according to the results of the 2010 census. The elections coincided with elections for other federal and state offices, including a quadrennial presidential election. A jungle primary took place on November 6, with a runoff, if necessary, scheduled for December 8.
The 2016 United States Senate election in Louisiana took place on November 8, 2016, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Louisiana, concurrently with the 2016 U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the United States Senate in other states and elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections.
The 2018 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana were held on November 6, 2018, 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.
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.
The 2021 Louisiana's 2nd congressional district special election was held on March 20, 2021, with a runoff being held on April 24, 2021.
The 2024 United States House of Representatives elections in Louisiana were held on November 5, 2024, to elect the six U.S. representatives from the state of Louisiana, one from each of the state's congressional districts. The elections coincided with the U.S. presidential election, as well as other elections to the House of Representatives, elections to the United States Senate, and various state and local elections.
Nove
