Louisiana's 1st congressional district is a

congressional district Congressional districts, also known as electoral districts and legislative districts, electorates, or wards in other nations, are divisions of a larger administrative region that represent the population of a region in the larger congressional bod ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

. The district comprises land from the northern shore of

Lake Pontchartrain Lake Pontchartrain ( ) is an estuary located in southeastern Louisiana in the United States. It covers an area of with an average depth of . Some shipping channels are kept deeper through dredging. It is roughly oval in shape, about from west ...

south to the

Mississippi River delta The Mississippi River Delta is the confluence of the Mississippi River with the Gulf of Mexico in Louisiana, southeastern United States. The river delta is a area of land that stretches from Vermilion Bay on the west, to the Chandeleur Isla ...

. It covers most of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

' suburbs, as well as a sliver of New Orleans itself. The district is currently represented by

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

House minority whip Party leaders of the United States House of Representatives, also known as floor leaders, are congresspeople who coordinate legislative initiatives and serve as the chief spokespersons for their parties on the House floor. These leaders are ele ...

Steve Scalise Stephen Joseph Scalise (; born October 6, 1965) is an American politician who is the United States House of Representatives Minority Whip and representative for . Scalise is in his eighth House term, having held his seat since 2008. The district ...

. It has a

Cook Partisan Voting Index The Cook Partisan Voting Index, abbreviated Cook PVI, CPVI, or PVI, is a measurement of how strongly a United States congressional district or U.S. state leans toward the Democratic or Republican Party, compared to the nation as a whole, based ...

rating of R+22, making it the most Republican district in Louisiana.

History

Prior to 1974, the 1st congressional district was entirely south of Lake Pontchartrain. As a result of population changes reflected in the 1970 U.S. Census and a concern to ensure that the 2nd congressional district was majority African American, the district was redrawn to include the Northshore. This was done to comply with the

Voting Rights Act The suffrage, Voting Rights Act of 1965 is a landmark piece of Federal government of the United States, federal legislation in the United States that prohibits racial discrimination in voting. It was signed into law by President of the United ...

, passed in 1965 to enforce constitutional rights of minorities in voting, including the opportunity to elect a representative of their choosing and to redistrict after censuses. In 1974, the state legislature redefined the 1st congressional district, dropping its precincts south of the lake and adding

St. Tammany Parish St. Tammany Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Tammany) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana named after Tamanend, the legendary Lenape Chief of Chiefs and the "Patron Saint of America." At the 2020 census, the population was 2 ...

, which borders Lake Pontchartrain on the north, from the 6th congressional district. Subsequently, the 1st congressional district acquired

Tangipahoa The Tangipahoa were a Native American tribe that lived just north of Lake Pontchartrain and between the Pearl River and the Mississippi River. Etymology The name Tangipahoa is derived from the Muskogean words ''(tonche pahoha)'' which translates ...

and

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

parishes, both north of the lake, from the 6th congressional district. Correspondingly, the 1st congressional district shed conservative

St. Bernard Parish St. Bernard Parish (french: Paroisse de Saint-Bernard; es, Parroquia de San Bernardo) is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat and largest community is Chalmette. The parish was formed in 1807. St. Bernard Parish is part of ...

and other areas south of the lake to the 3rd congressional district from 1984 through 2013. Overall, the 1st congressional district has become a very safe district for the Republican Party. Before the 1960s, it was controlled by Democrats, but conservative whites realigned with the Republican Party. 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.Several residents of the northlake area (eastern

Florida Parishes The Florida Parishes ( es, Parroquias de Florida, french: Paroisses de Floride), on the east side of the Mississippi River—an area also known as the Northshore or Northlake region—are eight parishes in the southeastern portion of the U.S. stat ...

) served in Congress to represent the 6th congressional district before it ceded territory to the 1st congressional district. 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 previously held by former

governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Bobby Jindal Piyush "Bobby" Jindal (born June 10, 1971) is an American politician who served as the 55th Governor of Louisiana from 2008 to 2016. The only living former Louisiana governor, Jindal also served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives a ...

, who was elected after

David Vitter David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer, and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. A Republican, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999. ...

retired to successfully run for the U.S. Senate. Republicans have held the seat since 1977. That year

Bob Livingston Robert Linlithgow Livingston Jr. (born April 30, 1943) is an American lobbyist and politician who served as a U.S. Representative from Louisiana from 1977 to 1999. A Republican, he was chosen as Newt Gingrich's successor as Speaker of the U.S. H ...

won a special election after

Richard Alvin Tonry Richard Alvin "Rick" Tonry (June 25, 1935 – July 3, 2012) was a Democratic Party politician from New Orleans, Louisiana. Education He graduated in 1962 from Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama. In 1967, he earned a law degree from Loyola Uni ...

, who won the seat in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 Phila ...

, was forced to resign the seat and lost the Democratic primary in the special election. From 2003 to 2013, the district comprised mostly land on the North Shore and South Shore of

, although it also contained areas west of Lake Pontchartrain. The district included some or all of the following parishes:

St. Tammany Tamanend (historically also known as Taminent, Tammany, Saint Tammany or King Tammany, "the Affable," ) (–) was the Chief of Chiefs and Chief of the Turtle Clan of the Lenni-Lenape nation in the Delaware Valley signing the Peace Treaty wit ...

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

, Orleans and St. Charles. It also included the cities of Hammond and Slidell and most of the western suburbs of

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

, including Metairie and

Kenner Kenner Products, known simply as Kenner, was an American toy company founded in 1946. Throughout its history, the Kenner brand produced several highly recognizable toys and merchandise lines including action figures like the original series of ' ...

, along with a small portion of the city itself. The district had the lowest percentage of

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

residents among the state's six-district Congressional delegation. In 2013, St. Bernard and neighboring Plaquemines Parishes were returned to the first district after nearly 30 years in the Third. The First also picked up much of

Lafourche Parish Lafourche Parish (french: Paroisse de la Fourche) is a parish located in the south of the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Thibodaux. The parish was formed in 1807. It was originally the northern part of Lafourche Interior Parish, whi ...

and the southernmost portion of

Terrebonne Parish Terrebonne Parish ( ; French: ''Paroisse de Terrebonne'') is a parish located in the southern part of the U.S. state of Louisiana. At the 2010 census, the population was 111,860, and 110,461 in 2019. In 2020, its population declined to 109,58 ...

for the first time.

Recent presidential elections

List of members representing the district

Recent election results

2002

2004

2006

2008

2010

2012

2014

2016

2018

2020

2022

References

* *
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louisiana's 1st Congressional District 01 Jefferson Parish, Louisiana Orleans Parish, Louisiana Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana St. Charles Parish, Louisiana St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana Tangipahoa Parish, Louisiana Washington Parish, Louisiana 1823 establishments in Louisiana