Louisiana's 3rd congressional district

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district
Louisiana's 3rd congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative	Clay Higgins (R–Port Barre)
Distribution	73.4[1]% urban 26.6% rural
Population (2016)	785,686[2]
Median income	$44,668
Ethnicity	70.08% White 25.1% Black 1.37% Asian 3.49% Hispanic 0.33% Native American
Cook PVI	R+20[3]

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district covers the southwestern and south central portion of the state, ranging from the Texas border to the Atchafalaya River.

The district is currently represented by Republican Clay Higgins, a law enforcement officer from Lafayette Parish in the 5th district known for his controversial Crime Stoppers videos. He won the December 10th runoff against public service commissioner Scott Angelle to replace Charles Boustany.^[4]

History

Louisiana gained its 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts in 1823 as part of the 18th United States Congress. Since at least the 1870s, the district has been strongly influenced by southern Louisiana's Acadian culture.

Although the 3rd Congressional District had been Democratic through much of its history, it is the sole district in Louisiana to have been represented by three parties during the 20th century, in that Whitmell P. Martin represented the district as a "Bull Moose" Progressive from 1915 to 1919, when he switched to the Democratic Party. Since the turn of the 20th century, it had dominated Louisiana as a one-party state after the legislature passed a new constitution that effectively disenfranchised African Americans through the 1960s. Martin remained in office as a Democrat until his death in 1929.

The district became more competitive for the Republicans later in the 20th century, when conservative whites shifted into the Republican Party after passage of civil rights legislation by Congress. In 1966, Hall Lyons of Lafayette, polled 40 percent of the vote as a Republican candidate against veteran Democratic incumbent Edwin E. Willis. In 1972, the district elected David C. Treen as the first Republican U.S. representative from Louisiana since 1891.

The state legislature redistricted in the 1980s, pushing the district out of the fast-growing suburbs of Metairie and the city of Kenner, to help keep the seat in the hands of Treen's Democratic successor, Billy Tauzin. Tauzin eventually switched to the Republican Party in 1995, making the 3rd Congressional District unique in 20th-century Louisiana politics as the sole district to have two representatives who switched parties (Martin, who switched from the Progressives to the Democrats in 1918, and Tauzin, who switched from the Democrats to the Republicans in 1995). As a Republican, Tauzin continued to serve until retiring from Congress in 2005. Democrat Charlie Melançon won the seat in 2004 (seated in 2005), was reelected in 2006, and was unopposed in 2008.

For most of the time from 1823 to 2013, the district contained large portions of southeastern and south central Louisiana, including the River Parishes and East Acadiana, In its final configuration, it included many exurban and rural areas near New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. It contained the cities of Chalmette, Gonzales, Houma, Thibodaux, Morgan City, and New Iberia.

However, when Louisiana lost a district after the 2010 census, the old 3rd was dismantled. The new 3rd included most of southwestern Louisiana, including Lafayette and Lake Charles. Most of this territory had been the 7th district before the 2010 census. The old 3rd's last congressman, freshman Republican Jeff Landry, had his home in New Iberia, along with much of the western portion of his district, drawn into the new 3rd. He opted to challenge the 7th District's four-term incumbent, fellow Republican Charles Boustany, in the GOP primary. However, Landry could not overcome the fact that he was running in a district in which more than 60 percent of his constituents were new to him. He lost to Boustany in the primary, ending his brief congressional career. The new 3rd, like both the old 3rd and 7th, has a rich Cajun culture.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Term	District home	Notes
District created March 4, 1823
William Leigh Brent	Adams-Clay Democratic-Republican	March 4, 1823 – March 4, 1825	Saint Martinville, St. Martin Parish	Retired
	Adams	March 4, 1825 – March 4, 1829
Walter Hampden Overton	Jacksonian	March 4, 1829 – March 4, 1831	Rapides Parish	Retired
Henry Adams Bullard	Anti-Jacksonian	March 4, 1831 – January 4, 1834	Natchitoches Parish	Resigned to become judge of Supreme Court of Louisiana
Vacant		January 4, 1834 – April 28, 1834
Rice Garland	Anti-Jacksonian	April 28, 1834 – March 4, 1837	Opelousas, St. Landry Parish	Resigned to become judge of Supreme Court of Louisiana
	Whig	March 4, 1837 – July 21, 1840
Vacant		July 21, 1840 – December 17, 1840
John Moore	Whig	December 17, 1840 – March 4, 1843	Franklin, St. Mary Parish	Defeated for re-election
John Bennett Dawson	Democratic	March 4, 1843 – June 26, 1845	St. Francisville, West Feliciana Parish	Redistricted from the 2nd district Died
John Henry Harmanson	Democratic	????, 1845 – October 24, 1850	Avoyelles Parish	Died
Alexander Gordon Penn	Democratic	December 30, 1850 – March 4, 1853	St. Tammany Parish
John Perkins Jr.	Democratic	March 4, 1853 – March 4, 1855	Madison Parish
Thomas Green Davidson	Democratic	March 4, 1855 – March 4, 1861	Springfield, Livingston Parish
Civil War and Reconstruction
Joseph Parkinson Newsham	Republican	July 18, 1868 – March 4, 1869	Saint Francisville, West Feliciana Parish
Chester Bidwell Darrall	Republican	March 4, 1869 – February 20, 1878	Morgan City, St. Mary Parish	Lost election contest
Joseph H. Acklen	Democratic	February 20, 1878 – March 3, 1881	St. Mary Parish	Did not seek re-election
Chester Bidwell Darrall	Republican	March 4, 1881 – March 4, 1883	Morgan City, St. Mary Parish	Lost re-election to William Pitt Kellogg
William Pitt Kellogg	Republican	March 4, 1883 – March 4, 1885	New Orleans	Defeated by Edward James Gay
Edward James Gay	Democratic	March 4, 1885 – May 30, 1889	New Orleans	Died
Vacant		May 30, 1889 – December 2, 1889	[Data unknown/missing.]
Andrew Price	Democratic	December 2, 1889 – March 4, 1897	Franklin, St. Mary Parish
Robert Foligny Broussard	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – March 4, 1915	New Iberia, Iberia Parish	Retired to run for United States Senate in 1914.
Whitmell P. Martin	Progressive	March 4, 1915 – March 4, 1919	Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish	Died
	Democratic	March 4, 1919 – April 6, 1929
Numa Francois Montet	Democratic	August 6, 1929 – January 3, 1937	Thibodaux, Lafourche Parish	Lost renomination
Robert L. Mouton	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1941	Lafayette	Lost renomination
James Domengeaux	Democratic	January 3, 1941 – April 15, 1944	Lafayette	Resigned to join the Armed Forces
Vacant		April 15, 1944 – November 7, 1944
James Domengeaux	Democratic	November 7, 1944 – January 3, 1949	Lafayette	Elected to finish his own term Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Edwin E. Willis	Democratic	January 3, 1949 – January 3, 1969	Arnaudville, St. Landry Parish	Lost renomination
Patrick T. Caffery	Democratic	January 3, 1969 – January 3, 1973	New Iberia, Iberia Parish	Retired
Dave Treen	Republican	January 3, 1973 – March 10, 1980	Metairie, Jefferson Parish	Resigned to become Governor of Louisiana
Vacant		March 10, 1980 – May 22, 1980
Billy Tauzin	Democratic	May 22, 1980 – August 8, 1995	Chackbay, Lafourche Parish	Retired
	Republican	August 8, 1995 – January 3, 2005
Charlie Melancon	Democratic	January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2011	Napoleonville, Assumption Parish	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Jeff Landry	Republican	January 3, 2011 – January 3, 2013	New Iberia, Iberia Parish	Lost runoff election
Charles Boustany	Republican	January 3, 2013 – January 3, 2017	Lafayette	Redistricted from the 7th district Retired to run unsuccessfully for the Senate
Clay Higgins	Republican	January 3, 2017 – present	Port Barre, St. Landry Parish	Incumbent

Recent Election Results

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

See also

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

References

Sources

• 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, bioguide.congress.gov; accessed November 18, 2016.

External links

• Rep. Clay Higgins's official House of Representatives website

Coordinates: 29°57′04″N 92°25′50″W / 29.95111°N 92.43056°W / 29.95111; -92.43056