Louisiana's 1st congressional district
| Louisiana's 1st congressional district | |
|---|---|
Louisiana's 1st congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
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| Current Representative | Steve Scalise (R–Jefferson) |
| Distribution |
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| Ethnicity |
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| Cook PVI | R+23 |
Louisiana's 1st congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district comprises land from the northern shore of Lake Pontchartrain south to the Mississippi River delta.
The district is currently represented by Republican Steve Scalise.
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, 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, which borders Lake Pontchartrain on the north, from the 6th Congressional District. Subsequently, the 1st Congressional District acquired Tangipahoa and Washington parishes, both north of the lake, from the 6th Congressional District.
Correspondingly, the 1st Congressional District shed conservative St. Bernard Parish 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.
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