When a special session of the Louisiana legislature ended last week, it appeared that Washington Parish will continue to be part of Congresswoman Julia Letlow’s far-flung 5th District.
A realignment of Louisiana’s Congressional districts had been ordered by a federal judge in order to create a new majority minority district.
Legislators were able to create the ordered majority minority district by substantially changing Congressman Garrett Graves’ 6th District and leaving Letlow’s district with only minor changes.
Graves’ new 6th District starts in East Baton Rouge Parish and extends to the northwest in a snake-like pattern.
In ordering the creation of the majority minority district, the judge noted that 1/3 of Louisiana’s population is Black, but only one of the state’s 6 Congressional districts has a majority of minority residents. In the newly revised 6th District slightly over half of residents are Black.
Now that the legislature has created a new redistricting map for Congressional districts, the map must still be approved by the federal court before it will become a reality.
