Amidst the pomp and history of the opening of the 112th Congress, Louisiana’s delegation is looking ahead to the 113th and, at the bottom line, which of them won’t be back because of the state’s loss of a congressional district in reapportionment. Geography and politics would suggest that Congressman Charles Boustany of Lafayette and newcomer Congressman Jeff Landry from neighboring New Iberia would be drawn into a new 3rd District anchored in Lafayette. But an alternative plan would draw a single North Louisiana district including the bases of Congressmen John Fleming and Rodney Alexander. There already exists a rivalry between Boustany and Landry, going back to last summer when Boustany supported Hunt Downer against Landry in the Republican primary, which Landry won going away.
—Despite Bobby Jindal’s swearing off it, there could still be a Louisiana governor running for president in 2012. Buddy Roemer says he’s thinking about it. “It certainly interests me. There is a lot of work to be done,” the former governor and current bank president told LaPolitics. “I am making no announcement. I am not running today,” he said. “It will take months to work out if it happens. I don’t want to scare anyone.” Whether as a candidate or not, Roemer sees the need for a different approach from “the professional corruption in politics” created by how presidential candidates raise money.
They said it: “You can say maybe they need to be House broken.” —Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution on acclimating the large class of freshman congressmen, in The Advocate
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
