U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry at odds with delegation on redistricting guidelines

A top aide to Rep. Rodney Alexander, R-Quitman, says a majority of Louisiana’s House delegation has agreed to post-census redistricting parameters, but have yet to endorse a specific plan for a spring legislative session that will carve six new congressional districts in place of the current seven.

Jamie Hanks, Alexander’s communications director, did not discuss the political consequences of the outline, which does not name any incumbents. But the bottom line is clear: Four-term Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, and freshman Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, would be drawn into the same coastal district, with the population distribution favoring Boustany in a potential 2012 campaign. The framework, which calls for an additional district to include coastal parishes, also protects the remaining five incumbents, including 2nd District Rep. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans, the delegation’s lone black member and only Democrat.

The Louisiana Legislature convenes March 20 to redraw state and federal election districts using results of the 2010 census. Louisiana is one of 10 states whose population growth was slow enough to warrant loss of a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Read more at blog.nola.com