INDReporter

New congressional districts taking shape

by Walter Pierce

So far it appears likely that U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, will get his wish that Lafayette and Lake Charles remain in the same district. Although the special redistricting session continues at the Capitol in Baton Rouge - with its share of acrimony and hand wringing - consensus appears to be building for two north-south congressional districts largely consistent with the current map: Shreveport and Monroe each anchoring one of those districts, according to The Advocate. However, because Louisiana is losing one of its seven U.S. House districts due to anemic population growth over the last decade, those north-south districts will likely stretch farther into central Louisiana. One map that's floated about even has the Monroe-based district reaching all the way into northern Acadiana.

Each of the eight plans under consideration carves out a black-majority districts - a requirement of the federal Voting Rights Act - snaking along the Mississippi River from Orleans Parish to East Baton Rouge Parish. And so far it appears likely that U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, will get his wish that Lafayette and Lake Charles remain in the same district.

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