Louisiana's 1st congressional district

Louisiana's 1st congressional district
Current Representative Steve Scalise (R–Jefferson)
Area 2,402 mi²
Distribution 79.66% urban, 20.34% rural
Population (2000) 638,355
Median income $40,948
Ethnicity 82.6% White, 12.9% Black, 1.5% Asian, 4.7% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 1.2% other
Cook PVI R+24

Louisiana's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district comprises mostly land on the North Shore and South Shore of Lake Pontchartrain, although it also contains areas west of Lake Pontchartrain. The district includes some or all of the following parishes: Washington, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa, Jefferson, Orleans and St. Charles. It also includes the cities of Hammond and Slidell and most of the western suburbs of New Orleans that include Metairie and Kenner, along with a small portion of the city itself. The district has the lowest percentage of African American residents among the state's seven-district delegation in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The district is currently represented by Republican Steve Scalise.

Contents

History

Prior to 1974 the 1st Congressional District was entirely south of Lake Pontchartrain; as a result of the 1970 U.S. Census and a concern to ensure that the 2nd Congressional District was majority African American, in 1974, the 1st Congressional District shed precincts south of the lake and acquired St. Tammany Parish, which borders Lake Pontchartrain on the north, from the 6th Congressional District. Subsequently, the 1st Congressional District has acquired Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, both north of the lake, from the 6th Congressional District.

Correspondingly, the 1st Congressional District has shed conservative St. Bernard Parish and other areas south of the lake to the 3rd Congressional District, but overall, the 1st Congressional District has become a very safe district for the Republican Party.[1] 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.[2] 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 most recently held by current Governor Bobby Jindal. Republicans have held the seat since 1977, when Bob Livingston won a special election after Richard Alvin Tonry, who won the seat in 1976, was forced to resign the seat and lost the Democratic primary in the special election.

List of representatives

Representative Party Years District home Note
District created March 4, 1823
Edward Livingston Jacksonian D-R March 4, 1823 - March 3, 1825 La Nouvelle Orléans
Jacksonian March 4, 1825 - March 3, 1829
Edward Douglass White Sr. Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1829 - ?????, 1834 Donaldsonville Resigned
Vacant  ??????, 1834 - ??????, 1834
Henry Johnson Anti-Jacksonian  ????, 1834 – March 3, 1837 Donaldsonville
Whig March 4, 1837 - March 3, 1839
Edward Douglass White Sr. Whig March 4, 1839 - March 3, 1843 Donaldsonville
John Slidell Democratic March 4, 1843 - November 10, 1845 La Nouvelle Orléans Resigned
Emile La Sére Democratic January 29, 1846 - March 3, 1851 La Nouvelle Orléans
Louis St. Martin Democratic March 4, 1851 - March 3, 1853 La Nouvelle Orléans and Saint Charles Parish
William Dunbar Democratic March 4, 1853 - March 3, 1855 Saint Bernard Parish
George Eustis Jr. Know Nothing March 4, 1855 - March 3, 1859 La Nouvelle Orléans
J. E. Bouligny Know Nothing March 4, 1859 - March 3, 1861 La Nouvelle Orléans; Washington, DC Bouligny opposed Louisiana's secession and remained in Washington during the American Civil War. He never retook residency in Louisiana.
Vacant March 4, 1861 - December 3, 1862 (Civil War)
Benjamin Flanders Unionist December 3, 1862 - March 3, 1863 Remained seated for his term during War
Vacant March 3, 1863 - July 18, 1868 (Civil War - Louisiana under occupation)
Jacob Hale Sypher Republican July 18, 1868 - March 3, 1869 New Orleans
Vacant March 3, 1869 - November 7, 1870 contested election of Louis St. Martin and Jacob Hale Sypher, House decided neither candidate entitled to seat
Jacob Hale Sypher Republican November 7, 1870 - March 3, 1875 New Orleans 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 4, 1875) remained in the 1873-1875 term, and in the meantime Lawrence had lost the 1874 election to Democrat Randall Lee Gibson.
Effingham Lawrence Democratic March 4, 1875 - March 4, 1875 New Orleans Successfully contested Sypher's election, then retired after 1 day in office—the shortest service ever by a member of the House of Representatives.
Randall Lee Gibson Democratic March 4, 1875 - March 3, 1883 New Orleans Retired from House on election to U.S. Senate.
Carleton Hunt Democratic March 4, 1883 - March 3, 1885 New Orleans
Louis St. Martin Democratic March 4, 1885 - March 3, 1887 Saint Charles Parish
Theodore Stark Wilkinson Democratic March 4, 1887 - March 3, 1891 Pointe Celeste Plantation in Plaquemines Parish
Adolph Meyer Democratic March 4, 1891 - March 8, 1908 New Orleans Died
Vacant March 8, 1908 - November 3, 1908
Albert Estopinal Democratic November 3, 1908 - April 28, 1919 New Orleans Died
Vacant April 28, 1919 - June 5, 1919
James O'Connor Democratic June 5, 1919 - March 3, 1931 New Orleans Lost renomination
Joachim O. Fernandez Democratic March 4, 1931 - January 3, 1941 New Orleans Lost renomination
Felix Edward Hébert Democratic January 3, 1941 - January 3, 1977 New Orleans Retired
Richard Alvin Tonry Democratic January 3, 1977 - May 4, 1977 Chalmette Resigned
Vacant May 4, 1977 - August 27, 1977
Bob Livingston Republican August 27, 1977 - March 1, 1999 Metairie Resigned
Vacant March 2, 1999 - May 29, 1999
David Vitter Republican May 29, 1999 - January 3, 2005 Metairie Retired, elected U.S. Senator
Bobby Jindal Republican January 3, 2005 - January 14, 2008 Kenner Retired, elected Governor
Vacant January 14, 2008 – May 3, 2008
Steve Scalise Republican May 3, 2008 – Present Metairie Incumbent

Recent Election Results

2002

Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2002)
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican David Vitter* 147,117 81.47%
Republican Monica L. Monica 20,268 11.22%
Republican Robert Namer 7,229 4.00%
Libertarian Ian P. Hawxhurst 5,956 3.30%
Totals 180,570 100.00%
Voter turnout  %
Republican hold

2004

Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2004)
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Bobby Jindal 225,708 78.40%
Democratic Roy Armstrong 19,266 6.69%
Democratic Vinny Mendoza 12,779 4.44%
Democratic Daniel Zimmerman 12,135 4.22%
Democratic Jerry Watts 10,034 3.49%
Republican Mike Rogers 7,975 2.77%
Totals 287,897 100.00%
Voter turnout  %
Republican hold

2006

Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2006)
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Bobby Jindal* 130,508 88.11%
Democratic David Gereighty 10,919 7.37%
Democratic Stacey Tallitsch 5,025 3.39%
Libertarian Peter L. Beary 1,676 1.13%
Totals 148,128 100.00%
Voter turnout  %
Republican hold

2008

Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Special Election (May 3, 2008)
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Steve Scalise 33,867 75.14%
Democratic Gilda Reed 10,142 22.50%
Independent R.A. "Skip" Galan 786 1.74%
Independent Anthony Gentile 280 0.62%
Totals 45,075 100.00%
Voter turnout  %
Republican hold
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District General Election (2008)
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Steve Scalise* 189,168 65.68%
Democratic Jim Harlan 98,839 34.32%
Totals 288,007 100.00%
Voter turnout  %
Republican hold

2010

Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2010)
Party Candidate Votes Percentage
Republican Steve Scalise* 157,182 78.52%
Democratic Myron Katz 38,416 19.19%
Independent Arden Wells 4,578 2.29%
Totals 200,176 100.00%
Voter turnout  %
Republican hold

References

  1. ^ Cook Partisan Voting Index
  2. ^ Several residents of the northlake area (eastern Florida Parishes) have served in Congress to represent the 6th Congressional District before it ceded territory to the 1st Congressional District.
All districts: Territory At-large 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
The At-large and 8th districts are obsolete.
See also: Louisiana's past & present Representatives, Senators, and Delegations, 2010 elections, 2012 elections
All U.S. districts – Apportionment – Redistricting – Gerrymandering – Maps