Louisiana's 5th congressional district

Louisiana's 5th congressional district
Louisiana's 5th congressional district - since January 3, 2013.
Current Representative		Ralph Abraham (R–Mangham)
Distribution	52.79% urban, 47.21% rural
Population (2000)	638,517
Median income	$27,453
Ethnicity	64.1% White, 33.9% Black, 0.5% Asian, 1.3% Hispanic, 0.4% Native American, 0.0% other
Cook PVI	R+14[1]

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district covers most of the northeastern and central portions of the state and contains the cities of Monroe and Alexandria.

On November 16, 2013, Republican newcomer Vance McAllister, a businessman from Swartz, handily defeated fellow Republican State Senator Neil Riser of Columbia in Caldwell Parish to claim the seat in a special election. McAllister led Riser, 54,449 (59.7) to 36,837 (40.3 percent), with all 981 precincts reporting. McAllister won fourteen of the twenty-four parishes in the district, including large margins in Ouachita and Rapides.^[2] McAllister had criticized Governor Bobby Jindal for not extending Medicaid to qualified poor Louisianians and Riser had endorsed the refusal. The election was seen as a rejection of Jindal's efforts to have the seat vacated and to replace Alexander with his hand-picked candidate in a low-turnout special election.^[3] The runoff turnout was less than 19%, three percent less than it had been in the primary.^[4]

Previously the seat was held by Rodney Alexander, who in 2004 had switched from the Democratic Party to the GOP. Alexander resigned on September 26, 2013 to become secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs under Governor Jindal.

Originally 14 candidates ran to succeed Alexander, including Clyde C. Holloway, a former representative from Louisiana's 8th congressional district, since disbanded. Riser and McAllister emerged from the primary to meet in the runoff.

List of representatives

Representative	Party	Years	Electoral history
Civil War and Reconstruction
W. Jasper Blackburn	Republican	July 18, 1868 – March 3, 1869
Frank Morey	Republican	March 4, 1869 – June 8, 1876	Lost contested election
William B. Spencer	Democratic	June 8, 1876 – January 8, 1877	Won contested election Resigned after being appointed associate justice of Louisiana Supreme Court
Vacant		January 8, 1877 – March 4, 1877
John E. Leonard	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 15, 1878	Died
Vacant		March 15, 1878 – November 5, 1878
J. Smith Young	Democratic	November 5, 1878 – March 3, 1879
J. Floyd King	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1887
Cherubusco Newton	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889
Charles J. Boatner	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – March 20, 1896	House declared seat vacant after election was contested by Alexis Benoit
Vacant		March 20, 1896 – June 10, 1896
Charles J. Boatner	Democratic	June 10, 1896 – March 3, 1897	Elected to fill vacancy of open seat
Samuel T. Baird	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – April 22, 1899	Died
Vacant		April 22, 1899 – August 29, 1899
Joseph E. Ransdell	Democratic	August 29, 1899 – March 3, 1913
James Walter Elder	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915
Riley J. Wilson	Democratic	March 4, 1915 – January 3, 1937
Newt V. Mills	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943
Charles E. McKenzie	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1947
Otto Passman	Democratic	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1977
Jerry Huckaby	Democratic	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1993	Defeated
Jim McCrery	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997	Redistricted from 4th district Redistricted to 4th district
John Cooksey	Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003	Retired to run for U.S. Senate
Rodney Alexander	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – August 9, 2004
	Republican	August 9, 2004 – September 26, 2013	Resigned to become Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs
Vacant		September 26, 2013 – November 16, 2013
Vance McAllister	Republican	November 16, 2013 – January 3, 2015	Elected to finish Alexander's term. Defeated
Ralph Abraham	Republican	January 3, 2015 –

Recent Election Results

2002

2004

• NOTE: Rodney Alexander switched from the Democratic to the Republican Party.

2006

2008

2010

2012

2013 (special)

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