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Louisiana's 1st congressional district

Coordinates: 29°39′59″N 89°53′34″W / 29.66639°N 89.89278°W / 29.66639; -89.89278
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Louisiana's 1st congressional district
Map
Interactive map of district boundaries since January 3, 2025
Representative
Distribution
  • 86.02% urban[1]
  • 13.98% rural
Population (2023)770,713[2]
Median household
income
$72,467[2]
Ethnicity
Cook PVIR+23[3]

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.

The district is currently represented by Republican House majority leader Steve Scalise. With a Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of R+23, it is the most Republican district in Louisiana.[3]

History

[edit]

Since at least the 1840s, the 1st congressional district has been anchored in and around most of the Greater New Orleans area south of Lake Pontchartrain, with the district being anchored in most of the city itself, as well as the adjoining parishes of St. Bernard and Plaquemines, during most of the tenure of F. Edward Hébert, a former journalist for The Times-Picayune who represented the district for a record 18 terms from 1941 until his retirement in 1977, eventually serving as Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee from 1971 to 1975. While largely a Democratic district for most of its existence, with Louisiana being part of the Solid South during this era, the district eventually became friendlier to Republicans as many conservative Democrats began to increasingly vote Republican (or at least against the Democratic presidential nominee), with the district even giving a plurality of the vote to George Wallace in 1968.

In the 1970s round of redistricting, the Louisiana State Legislature (in complying with the Voting Rights Act of 1965, particularly the opportunity of racial minorities to elect a representative of their choosing) redrew the neighboring 2nd District, which previously contained most of the western parts of New Orleans as well as the Westbank suburbs (on the west side of the Mississippi River, hence the term) in neighboring Jefferson Parish, into a majority African American district. In exchange, the 1st District would now extend to the Northshore area (the Florida Parishes north of Lake Pontchartrain) for the first time, adding St. Tammany Parish which had been amongst the first areas of Louisiana to turn Republican in the post-World War II era. Accordingly, the new 1st gave Republican President Richard Nixon over 70 percent of the vote in his 1972 reelection, though it did give a narrow majority to Democrat Jimmy Carter in 1976. That same year, longtime incumbent Hébert retired from Congress, and was succeeded by State Representative and fellow Democrat Richard Tonry, who narrowly won the election that year over Republican assistant state attorney general Bob Livingston.

However, Tonry would quickly become the subject of a federal corruption investigation, including allegations of ballot stuffing in St. Bernard Parish as well as illegal campaign contributions, eventually pleading guilty, serving a six-month prison sentence and resigning from Congress after only four months in May 1977. In the ensuing special election, Livingston would defeat Democratic State Representative Ron Faucheux (who himself defeated Tonry in his party's primary for the special election), becoming the first Republican to represent the district as well as a large portion of New Orleans since Reconstruction; the district would also narrowly vote for Ronald Reagan in the 1980 presidential election.

In the 1980s round of redistricting, the district shed virtually all of its precincts outside of New Orleans and Jefferson and St. Tammany parishes, with a mid-decade redistricting in 1984 making the district even more Republican. In particular, several central and eastern portions of New Orleans that were becoming increasingly African American and Democratic (including in particular New Orleans East, which would be adversely affected by the 1980s oil glut and the ensuing demographic changes that affected property values and crime rates there) were moved to the itself majority African American 2nd District. In exchange, the 1st added several heavily Republican areas of Jefferson Parish from the 3rd District (including the East Bank suburbs of Metairie and Kenner, as well as most of the Westbank suburbs including Terrytown, Estelle and Avondale) that not unlike St. Tammany Parish experienced a similar trend towards the GOP after World War II. From this newly redrawn district, Livingston (who himself would relocate from New Orleans to Metairie following the 1984 redistricting) would go on to win by margins exceeding 80 percent or higher, doing so in some cases unopposed, as the 1st became the most heavily Republican district in Louisiana and one of the most heavily Republican districts in the nation.[4] President Reagan won more than 77 percent of the vote in the district in 1984, followed by 71 percent in 1988 for George H. W. Bush, who himself accepted his party's presidential nomination at the Republican National Convention held that year in New Orleans at the Louisiana Superdome.

In the 1990s round of redistricting, the district expanded deeper into the Florida Parishes, gaining Washington and most of Tangipahoa parishes from the 6th District, in addition to the same core of Saint Tammany Parish, most of Jefferson Parish and a northwestern portion of New Orleans centered on the Lakeview neighborhood (long considered one of the more Republican areas of the heavily Democratic city) associated with the district since the 1970s. During this decade, Livingston rose to become Chairman of the powerful House Appropriations Committee following the Republican takeover of the House of Representatives following the 1994 elections, and in 1996 the 1st District would be the only district in Louisiana to vote for Bob Dole (who would also be the last Republican to lose Louisiana in a presidential election as of 2025). After Livingston resigned from Congress in 1999 following a short-lived bid for Speaker of the House that unraveled upon revelations of an extramarital affair from years past, the district would remain in Republican hands, electing State Representative David Vitter to succeed Livingston.

In the 2000s round of redistricting, the district would become equally divided on both sides of Lake Pontchartrain, connected only by the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, with the slightly larger northern half consisting of the Florida Parishes of St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington and the southern half consisting of most of Jefferson Parish, along with the Lakeview area of New Orleans carried over from the previous district and a section of St. Charles Parish extending as far west as Destrehan. With the smallest percentage of African Americans amongst Louisiana's then-delegation of seven congressional districts, the district was also the most Republican district in the state, giving over 70 percent of the vote to George W. Bush in 2004 and 72 percent to John McCain in 2008. Two of the district's representatives would eventually move up to higher office, with Vitter becoming the first Republican to be popularly elected to the Senate from Louisiana (and the first Republican Senator from the state since Reconstruction) in 2004 and Vitter's successor Bobby Jindal (also a Republican) being elected Governor of Louisiana in 2007. Jindal's successor, Republican Steve Senator Steve Scalise, would be elected in 2008 to succeed Jindal.

In 2012, following the 2010s round of redistricting which saw Louisiana lose a congressional seat due to population declines in the wake of Hurricane Katrina (which caused massive flooding and population displacement in the Greater New Orleans area), the district shed Washington and most of Tangipahoa parishes in the Northshore, while gaining back St. Bernard and Plaquemines parishes for the first time since the early 1980s, and also gaining most of Lafourche Parish and southern Terrebonne Parish (historically associated with the previous 3rd District, which had been eliminated and combined with the old 7th district) for the first time. Following the 2012 election, Scalise would be elected as Chairman of the powerful Republican Study Committee, eventually rising to House Majority Whip after the 2014 elections, becoming House Minority Whip after the GOP lost control of the House in the 2018 elections, and eventually House Majority Leader after the 2022 elections.

Throughout Scalise's time as the district's representative, the district has remained solidly Republican, giving more than two-thirds of the vote to Donald Trump in all three of his presidential elections between 2016 and 2024, with unprecedented Republican support in more rural areas of the district balancing out slight underperformances in more historically Republican suburban parts of the district during the Trump era. The district also voted twice against Democrat John Bel Edwards (who hails from just outside the district in Tangipahoa Parish) in both his successful election as Governor in 2015 and his reelection in 2019, with the 1st being the only district in Louisiana to vote for Edwards' Republican challenger, then-U.S. Senator and former 1st District representative David Vitter, in the former election.

As of the 2020s round of redistricting, as well as a subsequent mid-decade redistricting that resulted in a second majority-African American district being created before the 2024 elections, the district remains about equally divided on both sides of Lake Pontchartrain, with the northern portion extending from all of St. Tammany Parish to southern portions of Tangipahoa, Livingston and Ascension parishes (the latter two located in the Baton Rouge metropolitan area) including as far west as Sorrento, and the southern portion split between Scalise's political base in the East Bank suburbs west of New Orleans on one end and the southeastern corner of the state across most of St. Bernard, Plaquemines and Lafourche parishes. Despite this fact, the district in its latter-day iteration 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 the voters in the district are outnumbered by the fish.

Recent election results from statewide races

[edit]
Year Office Results[6]
2008 President McCain 73% - 25%
2012 President Romney 73% - 27%
2016 President Trump 69% - 27%
Senate Kennedy 74% - 26%
2019 Governor Rispone 55% - 45%
Lt. Governor Nungesser 80% - 20%
Attorney General Landry 76% - 24%
2020 President Trump 69% - 30%
2023 Attorney General Murrill 75% - 25%

List of members representing the district

[edit]
Member Party Years Cong
ress
Electoral history District Location
District created March 4, 1823

Edward Livingston
(New Orleans)
Democratic-Republican March 4, 1823 –
March 3, 1825
18th
19th
20th
Elected in 1822.
Re-elected in 1824.
Re-elected in 1826.
Retired to run for U.S. Senator.
1823–1833
Ascension, Assumption, Saint Charles, Saint John, Lafourche, Orleans, Saint Bernard, Saint James, and Terrebonne parishes
Jacksonian March 4, 1825 –
March 3, 1829

Edward Douglass White Sr.
(Donaldsonville)
Anti-Jacksonian March 4, 1829 –
March 3, 1833
21st
22nd
23rd
Elected in 1828.
Re-elected in 1830.
Re-elected in 1832.
Retired to run for governor and resigned when elected.
March 4, 1833 –
November 15, 1834
1833–1843
[data missing]
Vacant November 15, 1834 –
December 1, 1834
23rd

Henry Johnson
(Donaldsonville)
Anti-Jacksonian December 1, 1834 –
March 3, 1837
23rd
24th
25th
Elected to finish White's term.
Also elected to the next full term.
Re-elected in 1836.
Retired to run for Governor of Louisiana.
Whig March 4, 1837 –
March 3, 1839

Edward Douglass White Sr.
(Thibodaux)
Whig March 4, 1839 –
March 3, 1843
26th
27th
Elected in 1838.
Re-elected in 1840.
Retired.

John Slidell
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1843 –
November 10, 1845
28th
29th
Elected in 1842.
Re-elected in 1844.
Resigned.
1843–1853
[data missing]
Vacant November 10, 1845 –
January 29, 1846
29th
Emile La Sére
(New Orleans)
Democratic January 29, 1846 –
March 3, 1851
29th
30th
31st
Elected to finish Slidell's term.
Re-elected in 1846.
Re-elected in 1848.
Retired.

Louis St. Martin
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1851 –
March 3, 1853
32nd Elected in 1850.
Retired.
William Dunbar
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1853 –
March 3, 1855
33rd Elected in 1852.
Lost re-election.
1853–1863
Plaquemines and Saint Bernard parishes, as well as the portion of Orleans Parish on the right (west) bank of the Mississippi River and on the left (east) bank below Canal Street in the city of New Orleans

George Eustis Jr.
(New Orleans)
Know Nothing March 4, 1855 –
March 3, 1859
34th
35th
Elected in 1854.
Re-elected in 1856.
Retired.

J. E. Bouligny
(New Orleans)
Know Nothing December 3, 1859 –
March 3, 1861
36th Elected in 1859.
Bouligny opposed Louisiana's secession and remained in Washington, D.C. during the Civil War. He never retook residency in Louisiana.
Vacant March 4, 1861 –
February 17, 1863
37th Civil War

Benjamin Flanders
(New Orleans)
Union February 17, 1863 –
March 3, 1863
Elected in 1862.[a]
Retired.
Vacant March 3, 1863 –
July 18, 1868
38th
39th
40th
Civil War–Louisiana under occupation 1863–1873
[data missing]

Jacob Hale Sypher
(New Orleans)
Republican July 18, 1868 –
March 3, 1869
40th Elected to finish the vacant term.
Term expired during election contest.
Vacant March 3, 1869 –
November 7, 1870
41st Contested election of Louis St. Martin and Jacob Hale Sypher, House decided neither candidate entitled to seat.

Jacob Hale Sypher
(New Orleans)
Republican November 7, 1870 –
March 3, 1875
41st
42nd
43rd
Elected to finish the vacant term.[b]
Re-elected in 1870.
Re-elected in 1872.
Lost re-election.[c]
1873–1883
[data missing]
Effingham Lawrence
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 3, 1875 –
March 3, 1875
43rd Successfully contested Sypher's election, then retired after one day in office—the shortest service ever by a member of the House of Representatives.

Randall Lee Gibson
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1875 –
March 3, 1883
44th
45th
46th
47th
Elected in 1874.
Re-elected in 1876.
Re-elected in 1878.
Re-elected in 1880.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.

Carleton Hunt
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1883 –
March 3, 1885
48th Elected in 1882.
Retired.
1883–1893
[data missing]

Louis St. Martin
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1885 –
March 3, 1887
49th Elected in 1884.
Retired.

Theodore Stark Wilkinson
(Plaquemines Parish)
Democratic March 4, 1887 –
March 3, 1891
50th
51st
Elected in 1886.
Re-elected in 1888.
Retired.

Adolph Meyer
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1891 –
March 8, 1908
52nd
53rd
54th
55th
56th
57th
58th
59th
60th
Elected in 1890.
Re-elected in 1892.
Re-elected in 1894.
Re-elected in 1896.
Re-elected in 1898.
Re-elected in 1900.
Re-elected in 1902.
Re-elected in 1904.
Re-elected in 1906.
Died.
1893–1903
[data missing]
1903–1913
[data missing]
Vacant March 8, 1908 –
November 3, 1908
60th

Albert Estopinal
(Estopinal)
Democratic November 3, 1908 –
April 28, 1919
60th
61st
62nd
63rd
64th
65th
66th
Elected to finish Meyer's term.
Also elected to the next full term.
Re-elected in 1910.
Re-elected in 1912.
Re-elected in 1914.
Re-elected in 1916.
Re-elected in 1918.
Died.
1913–1923
[data missing]
Vacant April 28, 1919 –
June 5, 1919
66th

James O'Connor
(New Orleans)
Democratic June 5, 1919 –
March 3, 1931
66th
67th
68th
69th
70th
71st
Elected to finish Estopinal's term.
Re-elected in 1920.
Re-elected in 1922.
Re-elected in 1924.
Re-elected in 1926.
Re-elected in 1928.
Lost renomination.
1923–1933
[data missing]

Joachim O. Fernandez
(New Orleans)
Democratic March 4, 1931 –
January 3, 1941
72nd
73rd
74th
75th
76th
Elected in 1930.
Re-elected in 1932.
Re-elected in 1934.
Re-elected in 1936.
Re-elected in 1938.
Lost renomination.
1933–1943
[data missing]

Felix Edward Hébert
(New Orleans)
Democratic January 3, 1941 –
January 3, 1977
77th
78th
79th
80th
81st
82nd
83rd
84th
85th
86th
87th
88th
89th
90th
91st
92nd
93rd
94th
Elected in 1940.
Re-elected in 1942.
Re-elected in 1944.
Re-elected in 1946.
Re-elected in 1948.
Re-elected in 1950.
Re-elected in 1952.
Re-elected in 1954.
Re-elected in 1956.
Re-elected in 1958.
Re-elected in 1960.
Re-elected in 1964.
Re-elected in 1966.
Re-elected in 1968.
Re-elected in 1970.
Re-elected in 1972.
Re-elected in 1974.
Retired.
1943–1953
[data missing]
1953–1963
[data missing]
1963–1973
[data missing]
1973–1983
[data missing]

Richard A. Tonry
(Arabi)
Democratic January 3, 1977 –
May 4, 1977
95th Elected in 1976.
Resigned after conviction for vote-buying.
Vacant May 4, 1977 –
August 27, 1977
95th

Bob Livingston
(New Orleans 1977–83; Metairie 1984–99)
Republican August 27, 1977 –
March 1, 1999
95th
96th
97th
98th
99th
100th
101st
102nd
103rd
104th
105th
106th
Elected to finish Tonry's term.
Re-elected in 1978.
Re-elected in 1980.
Re-elected in 1982.
Re-elected in 1984.
Re-elected in 1986.
Re-elected in 1988.
Re-elected in 1990.
Re-elected in 1992.
Re-elected in 1994.
Re-elected in 1996.
Re-elected in 1998.
Resigned following revelations of his extramarital affair.
1983–1993
[data missing]
1993–2003
[data missing]
Vacant March 2, 1999 –
May 29, 1999
108th

David Vitter
(Metairie)
Republican May 29, 1999 –
January 3, 2005
106th
107th
108th
Elected to finish Livingston's term.
Re-elected in 2000.
Re-elected in 2002.
Retired to run for U.S. senator.
2003–2013

Bobby Jindal
(Kenner)
Republican January 3, 2005 –
January 14, 2008
109th
110th
Elected in 2004.
Re-elected in 2006.
Resigned to become Governor of Louisiana.
Vacant January 14, 2008 –
May 7, 2008
110th

Steve Scalise
(Jefferson)
Republican May 7, 2008 –
present
110th
111th
112th
113th
114th
115th
116th
117th
118th
119th
Elected to finish Jindal's term.
Re-elected later in 2008.
Re-elected in 2010.
Re-elected in 2012.
Re-elected in 2014.
Re-elected in 2016.
Re-elected in 2018.
Re-elected in 2020.
Re-elected in 2022.
Re-elected in 2024.
2013–2023
2023–2025
  1. ^ He was elected along with Michael Hahn on December 3, 1862, 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 on February 17, 1863.[7]
  2. ^ There were so many irregularities in the 1868 election that Congress threw it out. Sypher won the second round.
  3. ^ 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

[edit]

2002

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2002)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican David Vitter (Incumbent) 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
Total votes 180,570 100.00
Republican hold

2004

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2004)
Party Candidate Votes %
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
Total votes 287,897 100.00
Republican hold

2006

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2006)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Bobby Jindal (Incumbent) 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
Total votes 148,128 100.00
Republican hold

2008

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Special Election (May 3, 2008)
Party Candidate Votes %
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
Total votes 45,075 100.00
Republican hold
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District General Election (2008)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (Incumbent) 189,168 65.68
Democratic Jim Harlan 98,839 34.32
Total votes 288,007 100.00
Republican hold

2010

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2010)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (Incumbent) 157,182 78.52
Democratic Myron Katz 38,416 19.19
Independent Arden Wells 4,578 2.29
Total votes 200,176 100.00
Republican hold

2012

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2012)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (Incumbent) 193,496 66.63
Democratic Vinny Mendoza 61,703 21.25
Republican Gary King 24,844 8.55
Independent David Turknett 6,079 2.09
Independent Arden Wells 4,578 1.48
Total votes 290,410 100.00
Republican hold

2014

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2014)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (Incumbent) 189,250 77.56
Democratic Vinny Mendoza 24,761 10.15
Democratic Lee Dugas 21,286 8.72
Libertarian Jeff Sanford 8,707 3.57
Total votes 244,004 100.00
Republican hold

2016

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District Election (2016)
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (Incumbent) 243,645 74.56
Democratic Lee Ann Dugas 41,840 12.80
Democratic Danil Faust 12,708 3.89
Libertarian Howard Kearney 9,405 2.88
Democratic Joe Swider 9,237 2.83
Green Eliot Barron 6,717 2.06
Independent Chuemal Yang 3,236 0.99
Total votes 326,788 100.00
Republican hold

2018

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st congressional district, 2018
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (Incumbent) 192,526 71.5
Democratic Tammy Savoie 44,262 16.4
Democratic Lee Ann Dugas 18,552 6.9
Democratic Jim Francis 8,685 3.2
Libertarian Howard Kearney 2,806 1.0
Independent Frederick "Ferd" Jones 2,442 0.9
Total votes 269,325 100.0
Republican hold

2020

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st congressional district, 2020
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (incumbent) 270,330 72.21
Democratic Lee Ann Dugas 94,730 25.30
Libertarian Howard Kearney 9,309 2.49
Total votes 374,369 100.0
Republican hold

2022

[edit]
Louisiana's 1st congressional district, 2022
Party Candidate Votes %
Republican Steve Scalise (incumbent) 177,670 72.8
Democratic Katie Darling 61,467 25.2
Libertarian Howard Kearney 4,907 2.0
Total votes 244,044 100.0
Republican hold

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Congressional Districts Relationship Files (State-based)". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on April 2, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "My Congressional District".
  3. ^ a b "2022 Cook PVI: District Map and List". Cook Political Report. July 12, 2022. Retrieved January 10, 2023.
  4. ^ Cook Partisan Voting Index
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ https://davesredistricting.org/maps#viewmap::2ecbe5cd-461e-41e9-a954-2368bbe8b0a2
  7. ^ John D. Winters, The Civil War in Louisiana, Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1963, ISBN 0-8071-0834-0, pp. 133-134

29°39′59″N 89°53′34″W / 29.66639°N 89.89278°W / 29.66639; -89.89278