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

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. 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. The runoff turnout was less than 19%, three percent less than it had been in the primary.

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	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
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	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
J. Floyd King	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1887	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Cherubusco Newton	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
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	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
James Walter Elder	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Riley J. Wilson	Democratic	March 4, 1915 – January 3, 1937	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Newt V. Mills	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Charles E. McKenzie	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1947	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
Otto Passman	Democratic	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1977	[Data unknown/missing. You can help!]
File:Jerry Huckaby Scan Doc0002.pdf 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

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District Runoff Election (2002)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Democratic	Rodney Alexander*	86,718	50.28
	Republican	Lee Fletcher	85,744	49.72
Total votes			172,462	100.00
Voter turnout			%
	Democratic hold

2004

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District Election (2004)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rodney Alexander*	141,495	59.44
	Democratic	Zelma "Tisa" Blakes	58,591	24.61
	Republican	John W. "Jock" Scott	37,971	15.95
Total votes			238,057	100.00
Voter turnout			%
	Republican gain from Democratic

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

2006

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District Election (2006)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rodney Alexander	78,211	68.26
	Democratic	Gloria Williams Hearn	33,233	29.00
	Libertarian	Brent Sanders	1,876	1.64
	Independent	John Watts	1,262	1.10
Total votes			114,582	100.00
Voter turnout			%
	Republican hold

2008

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District Election (2008)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rodney Alexander	'	100.00
Total votes			'	100.00
Voter turnout			%
	Republican hold

2010

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District Election (2010)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rodney Alexander	122,033	78.57
	Independent	Tom Gibbs, Jr.	33,279	21.43
Total votes			155,312	100.00
Voter turnout			%
	Republican hold

2012

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District Election (2012)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Rodney Alexander (Incumbent)	202,536	77.83
	No Party	"Ron" Ceasar	37,486	14.41
	Libertarian	Clay Steven Grant	20,194	7.76
Total votes			260,216	100.0
Voter turnout			%
	Republican hold

2013 (special)

Louisiana's 5th Congressional District Special Election (2013)
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Republican	Vance McAllister	54,449	59.65%
	Republican	Neil Riser	36,837	40.35%
Total votes			91,286	18.9%
Voter turnout			%
	Republican hold

Historical district boundaries

2003 - 2013

See also

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

References

• Congressional Biographical Directory of the United States 1774–present