While it will chiefly be the responsibility of the Legislature to draw Louisiana’s new congressional district lines in 2011, special interests and constituencies from every part of the political process will want a say. Among the first out of the gate with an actual map is the Louisiana Family Forum, a conservative advocacy group that bases most of its outreach on Christian principles.
Its redrawing of post-Katrina Louisiana must be particularly jarring for players in the southeast portion of the state, where LFF’s proposes to completely alter the congressional landscape. The plan calls for combining the 3rd Congressional District, based around Houma-Thibodaux, with New Orleans’ 2nd Congressional District. It would be Louisiana’s required minority district and stretch as far north as East Baton Rouge Parish, where 60,000 voters in the northwestern part of the parish would be included.
Based on LFF’s proposal, which is only an early recommendation from a nonprofit group at this point, the odd man out could be U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon, a Democrat from Napoleonville. Under LFF’s plan, Melancon would not only lose Acadiana parishes, but he would be forced to campaign in a Baton Rouge-New Orleans market.
Critics contend the LFF plan would ensure Republican control of the state’s congressional delegation. See the full story here.—Jeremy Alford
