Louisiana's 2nd congressional district

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
Current Representative		Anh "Joseph" Cao (R)
Population (2000)	638,562
Median income	$25,514
Ethnicity	30.2% White, 64.1% Black, 2.7% Asian, 3.8% Hispanic, 0.3% Native American, 0.2% other
Cook PVI	D+25

Louisiana's 2nd congressional district contains nearly all of the city of New Orleans (a small portion being located in the neighboring 1st District), and some of its suburbs, including the West Bank portion of Jefferson Parish and South Kenner.^[1] The seat is currently held by Republican Anh "Joseph" Cao.

History

Louisiana gained its second district in 1823 as part of the 18th United States Congress. At first comprising New Orleans and significant populations from surrounding areas, it has incrementally been compacted into being a mostly within the city of New Orleans per se. It has also historically been among the most safely Democratic seats in the country; the Republicans had not held this seat since 1891, until Republican nominee Anh Joseph Cao upset Democratic incumbent William J. Jefferson in 2008 for the term to begin in January 2009. Like most Congressional seats in the South, this district consistently voted Democratic from the time of Reconstruction until the 1960s. Since then, its position as a virtually consistent Democratic seat is mostly due to its being one of the "Majority-Minority" districts created as a result of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, to ensure minority voters have a likely opportunity to elect representatives in Congress and to guard against adverse racially-motivated gerrymandering.

The 2008 election was rescheduled for December 6 because of Hurricane Gustav. Jefferson, weakened by an indictment on 16 felony counts, faced Republican candidate Anh "Joseph" Cao, Green candidate Malik Rahim, and Libertarian candidate Gregory Kahn. Jefferson was defeated by Cao.^[2]

With the swearing in of Joseph Cao in 2009, he became not only the first Republican to represent the 2nd district and most of New Orleans in over a century, but also America's first Vietnamese-American Congressman. He is the only Republican in the 111th Congress representing a predominantly African-American district. The district has the distinction being the most Democratic-leaning district in the country (according to the Cook Partisan Voting Index) be represented by a Republican.

Recent election results

2000

2002

2004

2006

*Jefferson and Carter advanced to run-off on December 9, with Jefferson winning reelection.

List of Representatives

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