Louisiana congressional elections, 2006

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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.

Louisiana uses a unique voting system to determine its representation in the U.S. Congress. Elections in Louisiana—with the exception of U.S. presidential elections—follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary. Candidates of any and all parties are listed on one ballot; voters need not limit themselves to the candidates of one party. Unless one candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may in fact be members of the same party. This means that the outcome of some races might not be known until over a month later than the rest of the country.

The Louisiana races, especially those in the southern portion of the state, will all have been impacted to some extent as a result of Hurricane Katrina, as well as Hurricane Rita, both of which have caused massive damage within Louisiana. For example, most of New Orleans' majority African-American communities were displaced by Katrina. It should also be noted that Democratic Governor Kathleen Blanco is unpopular at this moment with a 15% net approval rating according to a recent Survey USA poll.

All Louisiana Congressmen won re-election and avoided a run-off except Democrat William Jefferson of New Orleans, under investigation for corruption. He won a run-off against fellow Democrat Karen Carter.

Contents 1 Individual District Races 1.1 1st Congressional District 1.2 2nd Congressional District 1.3 3rd Congressional District 1.4 4th Congressional District 1.5 5th Congressional District 1.6 6th Congressional District 1.7 7th Congressional District 2 References 3 See also

[edit] Individual District Races

[edit] 1st Congressional District

Name	Party	Official website	Information	Votes	% of Total
Bobby Jindal (Incumbent)	Republican	http://www.bobbyjindal.com/	former Louisiana Secretary of Department of Health & Hospitals, first elected 2004	130,277	88%
Stacey Tallitsch	Democrat	http://staceyforcongress.com/	Computer engineer from Metairie	10,888	7%
David Gereighty	Democrat	http://www.gereightyforcongress.com	Electrical Engineer from Metairie	5,004	4%
Peter Beary	Libertarian	http://www.la.lp.org/PETERBEARY.html	From River Ridge	1,670	1%

Incumbent Congressman Bobby Jindal is quite popular statewide, having narrowly lost the 2003 gubernatorial election, and he easily won re-election and avoided a run-off in the safely Republican First District.

[edit] 2nd Congressional District

Name	Party	Official website	Information	Votes	% of Total
Bill Jefferson (Incumbent)	Democrat	http://www.jeffersonforcongress.com/	First elected in 1990; currently under investigation on corruption charges.	27,706	29.98%
Karen Carter	Democrat	http://www.karencarterforcongress.com/	State Representative	19,972	21.61%
Derrick Shepherd	Democrat	http://www.derrickshepherd.com/	State Senator, representing Marrero	16,621	17.98%
Joe Lavigne	Republican	http://www.joelavigne.com/	Lawyer	12,405	13.42%
Troy Carter	Democrat	http://www.troycarterforcongress.com/	Former State Representative and New Orleans City Council member, candidate in 2002 New Orleans mayoral election	11,052	11.96%
Eric T. Bradley	Republican			1,142	1.24%
Regina Bartholomew	Democrat	http://www.bartholomew06.com/	Attorney for Orleans Parish School Board	1,091	1.18%
John Edwards	Democrat	http://www.johnedwardsforcongress.com/	659	.71%
Scott Barron	Democrat			611	.66%
Gregory "Rhumbline" Kahn	Libertarian			397	.43%
M.V. "Vinny" Mendoza	Democrat	http://www.vinnymendoza.com/	Ran for 1st Congressional District seat in 2004	396	.53%
Lawrence William "Lance" von Uhde III	Republican		Florist	248	.27%
Deven "D.C." Collins	Democrat			117	.13%

Incumbent Congressman William Jefferson (D) has been under intense investigation and the FBI has claimed that it has videotaped him accepting $100,000 in bribes. The police also found money in Jefferson's freezer that was hidden amidst frozen food products. Jefferson has also been stripped of his membership in the Ways and Means Committee as a result of this scandal. While it was very unlikely this district would switch to the Republican Party, there is a strong possibility of Democratic challenger Karen Carter knocking off Jefferson. The seat is located in heavily Democratic New Orleans. No Republican has represented this district since Reconstruction. A Republican lawyer, Joe Lavigne, entered the race against Jefferson, while the Louisiana Democratic Party endorsed State Representative Karen Carter, the first time in recent memory that the state party has backed a challenger to its own incumbent Congressman. ^[1]

The top two finishers, Bill Jefferson and Karen Carter faced eachother in a runoff round of voting on December 9, with incumbant Jefferson being reelected.

[edit] 3rd Congressional District

Name	Party	Official website	Information	Votes	%
Charlie Melancon (Incumbent)	Democrat	http://www.melanconforcongress.org/	First elected 2004; former president of American Sugar Cane League, from Napoleonville	74,869	55%
Craig Romero	Republican	http://www.craigromero.com/	State Senator from New Iberia	54,868	40%
James Lee Blake, Jr.	Libertarian	http://la.lp.org/james_lee_blake.html	From Franklin	4,189	3%
Olangee "OJ" Breech	Democrat		From Laplace	2,164	2%

In a December 2004 runoff, now-incumbent Charlie Melancon (D) squeaked into Congress by 569 votes over Billy Tauzin III, the son and namesake of his popular predecessor. Nevertheless, he was easily re-elected in this swing district.

[edit] 4th Congressional District

Name	Party	Official website	Information	Votes	% of Total
Jim McCrery (Incumbent)	Republican		First elected 1988; lawyer, former board member of Louisiana Association of Business and Industry (LABI)	74,869	55%
Artis Cash	Democrat	http://www.drartiscash.com/	Pastor of Shreveport Christian Church	54,868	40%
Patti Cox	Democrat	http://www.myspace.com/patti4congress/	Environmental consultant from Shreveport	4,189	3%
Chester T. Kelley	Republican	http://www.chesterkelley.com/	Restaurant owner, Real Estate professional, past President of the Northwest Louisiana Restaurant Association, Vietnam War Veteran, US Air Force Captain, Retired.	2,164	2%

Incumbent five-term Congressman Jim McCrery easily won re-election and avoided a run-off in this conservative North Louisiana district.

[edit] 5th Congressional District

Name	Party	Official website	Information	Votes	% of Total
Rodney Alexander (Incumbent)	Republican	http://www.rodneyalexanderforcongress.com/	First elected 2002; From Quitman	78,835	68%
Gloria Williams Hearn	Democrat	http://www.hearnforcongress.com/	Educator and consultant from Pineville	33,466	29%
Brent Sanders	Libertarian		From Alexandria	1,887	2%
John Watts	No Party/Other (?)		From Bastrop	1,266	1%

Two-term incumbent Rodney Alexander (R), first elected in 2002, began his 2004 re-election campaign as an Democrat but switched parties to run as a Republican just before the filing deadline. He easily won re-election and avoided a run-off

[edit] 6th Congressional District

Name	Party	Official website	Information	Votes	% of Total
Richard H. Baker (Incumbent)	Republican	http://www.richardhbaker.com/	First elected 1986; From Baton Rouge	94,640	83%
Richard M. Fontanesi	Libertarian		From Baton Rouge	19,644	17%

Republican incumbent Richard H. Baker, first elected in 1986, was easily re-elected and avoided a run-off.

[edit] 7th Congressional District

Name	Party	Official website	Information	Votes	% of Total
Charles Boustany (Incumbent)	Republican	http://www.charlesboustany.com	First elected 2004; Heart surgeon from Lafayette	113,486	74%
Mike Stagg	Democrat	http://www.mikestagg.com/	Information technology entrepreneur from Lafayette	47,007	29%

Incumbent Charles Boustany won 55% to 45% in the December 2004 runoff, and should be a good bet for reelection in his relatively conservative Southwest Louisiana district. He got a break when Chris John, the Democrat who represented this district from 1997 until his Senate run in 2004, decided not to run again. However, this district was heavily damaged by Hurricane Rita, and it is not known how many voters have temporarily—or permanently —moved elsewhere.

[edit] References

1. ^ "Democratic Party in La. Backs Rival Of Jefferson", Associated Press, October 15, 2006.

[edit] See also

• United States House elections, 2006
• United States House elections, 2006 complete list
• United States Congressional Delegations from Louisiana

Louisiana's current delegation to the United States Congress

Senators: Mary Landrieu (D), David Vitter (R) Representative(s): Bobby Jindal (R), William J. Jefferson (D), Charles Melancon (D), Jim McCrery (R), Rodney Alexander (R), Richard H. Baker (R), Charles Boustany (R) All delegations: Alabama • Alaska • Arizona • Arkansas • California • Colorado • Connecticut • Delaware • Florida • Georgia • Hawaii • Idaho • Illinois • Indiana • Iowa • Kansas • Kentucky • Louisiana • Maine • Maryland • Massachusetts • Michigan • Minnesota • Mississippi • Missouri • Montana • Nebraska • Nevada • New Hampshire • New Jersey • New Mexico • New York • North Carolina • North Dakota • Ohio • Oklahoma • Oregon • Pennsylvania • Rhode Island • South Carolina • South Dakota • Tennessee • Texas • Utah • Vermont • Virginia • Washington • West Virginia • Wisconsin • Wyoming — American Samoa • District of Columbia • Guam • Puerto Rico • U.S. Virgin Islands