Louisiana's 2nd congressional district

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
Louisiana's 2nd congressional district – since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative	Cedric Richmond (D–New Orleans)
Distribution	94.68[1]% urban 5.42% rural
Population (2016)	792,390[2]
Median income	$36,798
Ethnicity	30.95% White 61.94% Black 2.75% Asian 6.37% Hispanic 0.29% Native American
Cook PVI	D+25[3]

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans and stretches west and north to Baton Rouge.

The district is currently represented by Democrat Cedric Richmond.

History

Louisiana gained the 2nd Congressional District in 1823 as part of the 18th United States Congress. At first it comprised New Orleans and significant populations from surrounding areas, but it has incrementally been compacted into being mostly within the city of New Orleans per se. Since the late 19th century, it has been historically among the most safely Democratic seats in the country, for sharply opposing reasons. It remained in Democratic hands from 1891 through much of the 1960s because in 1898 the Democratic-dominated state legislature disenfranchised most blacks through provisions of a new state constitution and maintained their political exclusion for decades. Like most congressional seats in the South, this district consistently voted Democratic from the time of Reconstruction until the 1960s, but the voters during that time were nearly all white Democrats. New Orleans had a significant proportion of African Americans in its population who were utterly excluded from the political system.

Since passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the federal government oversaw voter registration and elections in areas in which portions of the population were underrepresented. Since that time, African Americans in the South have re-entered the political process. Most have affiliated with the Democratic Party, as its national leaders supported the civil rights movement. The 2nd was configured as a "Majority-Minority" district to ensure minority voters have a chance to elect representatives of their own choice to Congress, and to guard against adverse racially motivated gerrymandering. It has been drawn as a black-majority district since 1983. It is the only black-majority district containing any territory west of the Mississippi River.

In 2008 Joseph Cao was elected as the first Republican to represent the 2nd Congressional District and most of New Orleans in over a century; he was the United States' first Vietnamese-American U.S. Representative. He was the only Republican in the 111th Congress to represent a district with a predominantly African-American population.

For most of the time from 1983 to 2013, the district contained nearly all of the city of New Orleans (except for a small portion is located in the neighboring 1st Congressional District), and some of its suburbs. From 2003 to 2013, it also included the West Bank portion of Jefferson Parish and South South Kenner, which have a higher proportion of white residents.^[4] After the 2010 census, it was pushed slightly to the west, picking up a portion of Baton Rouge.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Term	Electoral history
District created		March 4, 1823
Henry Hosford Gurley	Adams-Clay Democratic- Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 4, 1825	[Data unknown/missing.]
	Adams	March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829	[Data unknown/missing.]
	Anti- Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1831	[Data unknown/missing.]
Philemon Thomas	Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – March 4, 1835	[Data unknown/missing.]
Eleazer Wheelock Ripley	Jacksonian	March 4, 1835 – March 4, 1837
	Democratic	March 4, 1837 – March 4, 1839	[Data unknown/missing.]
Thomas Withers Chinn	Whig	March 4, 1839 – March 4, 1841	[Data unknown/missing.]
John Bennett Dawson	Democratic	March 4, 1841 – March 4, 1843	Redistricted to the 3rd district
Alcée Louis la Branche	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – March 4, 1845	[Data unknown/missing.]
Bannon Goforth Thibodeaux	Democratic	March 4, 1845 – March 4, 1849	[Data unknown/missing.]
Charles Magill Conrad	Whig	March 4, 1849 – August 17, 1850	Resigned to become United States Secretary of War
Vacant		August 17, 1850 – December 5, 1850
Henry Adams Bullard	Whig	December 5, 1850 – March 4, 1851	[Data unknown/missing.]
Joseph Aristide Landry	Whig	March 4, 1851 – March 4, 1853	[Data unknown/missing.]
Theodore Gaillard Hunt	Whig	March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1855	[Data unknown/missing.]
Miles Taylor	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – February 5, 1861	Withdrew due to onset of Civil War
Vacant		February 5, 1861 – December 3, 1862
Michael Hahn	Unionist	December 3, 1862 – March 4, 1863	[Data unknown/missing.]
Louisiana's secession during the Civil War		March 4, 1863– July 18, 1868	[Data unknown/missing.]
James Mann	Democratic	July 18, 1868 – August 26, 1868	Died after serving 5 weeks
Vacant		August 26, 1868 – March 4, 1869	House left seat vacant due to election dispute
Lionel Allen Sheldon	Republican	March 4, 1869 – March 4, 1875	Lost re-election
Ezekiel John Ellis	Democratic	March 4, 1875 – March 4, 1885	Retired from Congress, returned to law practice
Michael Hahn	Republican	March 3, 1885 – March 15, 1886	Died
Vacant		March 15, 1886 – December 9, 1886	[Data unknown/missing.]
Nathaniel Dick Wallace	Democratic	December 9, 1886 – March 4, 1887	[Data unknown/missing.]
Matthew Diamond Lagan	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 4, 1889	[Data unknown/missing.]
Hamilton D. Coleman	Republican	March 4, 1889 – March 4, 1891	[Data unknown/missing.]
Matthew Diamond Lagan	Democratic	March 4, 1891 – March 4, 1893	[Data unknown/missing.]
Robert Charles Davey	Democratic	March 4, 1893 – March 4, 1895	[Data unknown/missing.]
Charles Francis Buck	Democratic	March 4, 1895 – March 4, 1897	[Data unknown/missing.]
Robert Charles Davey	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – December 26, 1908	Died
Vacant		December 26, 1908 – March 30, 1909	[Data unknown/missing.]
Samuel Louis Gilmore	Democratic	March 30, 1909 – July 18, 1910	Died
Vacant		July 18, 1910 – November 8, 1910	[Data unknown/missing.]
H. Garland Dupré	Democratic	November 8, 1910 – February 21, 1924	Died
Vacant		February 21, 1924 – April 22, 1924	[Data unknown/missing.]
James Z. Spearing	Democratic	April 22, 1924 – March 4, 1931	[Data unknown/missing.]
Paul H. Maloney	Democratic	March 4, 1931 – December 15, 1940	Resigned
Vacant		December 15, 1940 – January 3, 1941	[Data unknown/missing.]
Hale Boggs	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – January 3, 1943	Lost re-nomination
Paul H. Maloney	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1947	Retired from Congress
Hale Boggs	Democratic	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1973	Presumed dead after private plane went missing over Alaska October 16, 1972. Seat declared vacant at beginning of the 93rd Congress.
Vacant		January 3, 1973 – March 20, 1973
Lindy Boggs	Democratic	March 20, 1973 – January 3, 1991	First elected to finish her husband's term Retired
William J. Jefferson	Democratic	January 3, 1991 – January 3, 2009	Lost re-election
Joseph Cao	Republican	January 3, 2009 – January 3, 2011	Elected in 2008 Lost re-election
Cedric Richmond	Democratic	January 3, 2011 – Present	First elected in 2010

Recent Election Results

Historical district boundaries

2003 – 2013

See also

• Louisiana's congressional districts
• List of United States congressional districts

References

• Martis, Kenneth C. (1989). The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Martis, Kenneth C. (1982). The Historical Atlas of United States Congressional Districts. New York: Macmillan Publishing Company.
• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present

Coordinates: 30°02′48″N 90°34′07″W / 30.04667°N 90.56861°W / 30.04667; -90.56861