Gov. Bobby Jindal has waded into the controversy over how to redraw congressional districts by voicing his support for two vertical districts based in north Louisiana, which is at the heart of a bill being debated in Senate committee. The weight of the governor’s position could diffuse opposition to the congressional remap plan, despite competing plans and opposition from Congressman Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, and others outside the Capitol. The bill headed to the Senate puts East and West Feliciana parishes and most of St. Helena, currently in the 6th District, in the 5th District, and puts St. Martin Parish, now in the 7th, in the 6th.
— Of all the “guiding principles” offered by authors of redistricting plans, Senate President Joel Chaisson’s, D-Destrehan, seemed to be the most frank. “Keeping the core of present districts and protecting incumbents”: That was why Chaisson says he drew a new minority district in central Louisiana. It is one of two new Senate minority districts that would replace the lost Senate district in New Orleans, bringing the total to 11. The other new black district runs through the river parishes.
They said it: “This is when everybody still likes each other.” —Rep. Jane Smith, R-Benton, on opening of the reapportionment session, in The Times-Picayune
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
