Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
and stretches west and north to
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
. The district is currently represented by
Democrat Troy Carter. With a
Cook Partisan Voting Index rating of D+17, it is one of two Democratic districts in Louisiana.
History
Louisiana gained a second district in 1823 as part of the
18th United States Congress. At first it comprised New Orleans and significant populations from surrounding areas. With the growth of population in the urban area, the current district is located mostly within the city of New Orleans.
Since the late 19th century, this has been historically among the most safely Democratic seats in the country, for sharply opposing reasons. During Reconstruction, most African Americans affiliated with the Republican Party and, as a majority, elected Republicans from this district.
White Democrats regained control of the district in 1891, when voter suppression of Republicans was rampant. In 1898 the Democratic-dominated state legislature had
disenfranchised most blacks in the state through provisions of a new state constitution that raised barriers to voter registration, such as poll taxes and subjective literacy tests. The Democrats had maintained the political exclusion of blacks for decades. Like most congressional districts in the South, this district consistently voted Democratic from the late 19th century until the late 1960s, because the voters during that time were nearly all white Democrats. Such Democrats created what was known as the
Solid South in Congress, exercising power beyond their proportion of the electorate.
From the 1960s onward, however, white conservatives began splitting their tickets and voting Republican, gradually switching outright to the GOP. At the same time, black voters regained the franchise and lent their support to Democrats. Since 1984, the district has been drawn as a black-majority district.
In 2008, after a federal
grand jury indicted nine-term incumbent congressman
William J. Jefferson on sixteen felony charges related to
corruption
Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense that is undertaken by a person or an organization that is entrusted in a position of authority to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's gain. Corruption may involve activities ...
the year prior,
Joseph Cao was elected as the first Republican to represent the 2nd congressional district and most of New Orleans in more than a century. Cao was the first
Vietnamese-American
Vietnamese Americans () are Americans of Vietnamese people, Vietnamese ancestry. They constitute a major part of all overseas Vietnamese. As of 2023, over 2.3 million people of Vietnamese descent live in the United States, making them the fourth ...
U.S. representative elected in the country. He was the only Republican in the
111th Congress to represent a district with a predominantly
African-American population. Cao was heavily defeated in 2010 by state representative
Cedric Richmond, and the district reverted to its Democratic ways. Richmond defeated nominal Republican challengers in 2012 and 2020, and no Republican even filed from 2014 to 2018.
For most of the period from 1983 to 2013, this district contained nearly all of the city of New Orleans (except for a small portion located in the neighboring ), and some of its suburbs. In 2003, it was pushed into the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
portion of
Jefferson Parish and South
Kenner, which have a higher proportion of white residents. After the 2010 census, the legislature pushed the 2nd slightly to the west, picking up a portion of
Baton Rouge
Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...
–essentially, most of the capital's majority-black precincts.
The 2024 Allen v. Milligan decision dictated a new majority-black precinct, redrawing the 6th district. The 2nd district loses the Baton Rouge area and the northeast Orleans Parish but now represents the whole of the Iberville and Assumption Parishes, as well as
Arabi and
Chalmette in
St. Bernard Parish.
Parishes and communities
For the
119th and successive Congresses (based on the districts drawn following a 2023 court order), the district contains all or portions of the following parishes and communities.
Ascension Parish (5)
:
Darrow,
Donaldsonville,
Gonzales,
Lemannville (shared with St. James Parish),
Prairieville (part; also
5th)
Assumption Parish (8)
: All eight communities
Iberville Parish (9)
: All nine communities
Jefferson Parish (14)
:
Avondale,
Bridge City,
Estelle (part; also
1st),
Gretna,
Harvey,
Kenner (part; also
1st),
Marrero,
Metairie (part; also
1st),
River Ridge (part; also
1st),
Terrytown,
Timberlane,
Waggaman,
Westwego,
Woodmere
Lafourche Parish (1)
:
Thibodaux (part; also
3rd)
Orleans Parish (1)
:
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
(part; also
1st)
St. Bernard Parish (3)
:
Arabi,
Chalmette (part; also
1st),
Meraux (part; also
1st)
St. Charles Parish (10)
:
Ama,
Boutte,
Bayou Gauche,
Des Allemands (part; also
3rd; shared with Lafourche Parish),
Hahnville,
Killona,
Luling,
Paradis,
St. Rose (part; also
1st),
Taft
St. James Parish (14)
: All 14 communities
St. John the Baptist Parish (6)
: All six communities
Recent election results from statewide races
List of members representing the district
Recent election results
2002
2004
2006
2008
2010
2012
2014
2016
2018
2020
2021 (special)
2022
2024
See also
*
Louisiana's congressional districts
*
List of United States congressional districts
Notes
References
;Specific
;General
*
*
Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present
{{DEFAULTSORT:Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District
02
Jefferson Parish, Louisiana
Orleans Parish, Louisiana
1823 establishments in Louisiana
Constituencies established in 1823