Louisiana's 5th congressional district

Louisiana's 5th congressional district
From 2023 to 2025 From 2025 Interactive map of district boundaries
Representative	Julia Letlow R–Start
Distribution	51.65% rural[1] 48.35% urban
Population (2023)	754,781[2]
Median household income	$48,546[3]
Ethnicity	57.9% White 33.5% Black 3.8% Hispanic 3.2% Two or more races 0.9% Asian 0.7% other
Cook PVI	R+17[4]

Louisiana's 5th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The 5th district encompasses rural northeastern Louisiana and much of central Louisiana, as well as the northern part of Louisiana's Florida parishes in southeastern Louisiana, taking in Monroe, Alexandria, Amite and Bogalusa.

In 2013, six-term Representative Rodney Alexander resigned to take a state cabinet post; in the special election, Republican newcomer Vance McAllister, a businessman from Swartz, Louisiana, handily defeated fellow Republican State Senator Neil Riser of Columbia in Caldwell Parish to claim the seat in a special election. McAllister beat Riser, 54,449 (59.7) to 36,837 (40.3 percent).^[5]

Analysts considered McAllister's victory as a rejection of Governor Bobby Jindal's efforts to have the seat vacated and to replace Alexander with his hand-picked candidate in a low-turnout special election.^[6] The runoff turnout was less than 19%, three percent less than in the primary.^[7]

In 2014, Ralph Abraham defeated Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo for the 113th United States Congress, replacing McAllister, who was defeated in the Louisiana primary. On February 26, 2020, Abraham announced he would not be seeking re-election for a fourth term, honoring his pledge to only serve three terms in Congress.^[8]

The district is currently represented by Republican Julia Letlow, who was elected in a 2021 special election to replace her husband, representative-elect Luke, who died of COVID-19 days before he was set to be sworn in.

As part of the 2024 map redistricting, the 5th loses Lincoln, Jackson, Winn, Grant, Rapides, and half of Ouachita Parishes to the 4th district, and also Pointe Coupee and half of Avoyelles Parish to the new 6th; in exchange, 5th gains parts of East Baton Rouge, Tangipahoa and Livingston Parishes. The new territory includes two of the state's largest universities, Louisiana State (LSU) in Baton Rouge and Southeastern Louisiana (SLU) in Hammond.^[9]

Member	Party	Years	Cong ress	Electoral history	Location
District created March 4, 1863
Vacant		March 4, 1863 – July 18, 1868	38th 39th 40th	Civil War and Reconstruction
W. Jasper Blackburn (Homer)	Republican	July 18, 1868 – March 3, 1869	40th	Elected to finish the vacant term. Retired to run for Lieutenant Governor.
Frank Morey (Monroe)	Republican	March 4, 1869 – June 8, 1876	41st 42nd 43rd 44th	Elected in 1868. Re-elected in 1870. Re-elected in 1872. Re-elected in 1874. Lost contested election.
William B. Spencer (Vidalia)	Democratic	June 8, 1876 – January 8, 1877	44th	Won contested election. Retired and resigned to become associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court.
Vacant		January 8, 1877 – March 3, 1877
John E. Leonard (Lake Providence)	Republican	March 4, 1877 – March 15, 1878	45th	Elected in 1876. Died.
Vacant		March 15, 1878 – November 5, 1878
J. Smith Young (Homer)	Democratic	November 5, 1878 – March 3, 1879	45th	Elected to finish Leonard's term. Retired.[10]
J. Floyd King (Vidalia)	Democratic	March 4, 1879 – March 3, 1887	46th 47th 48th 49th	Elected in 1878. Re-elected in 1880. Re-elected in 1882. Re-elected in 1884. Lost renomination.
Cherubusco Newton (Bastrop)	Democratic	March 4, 1887 – March 3, 1889	50th	Elected in 1886. Lost renomination.
Charles J. Boatner (Monroe)	Democratic	March 4, 1889 – March 20, 1896	51st 52nd 53rd 54th	Elected in 1888. Re-elected in 1890. Re-elected in 1892. Re-elected in 1894. House declared seat vacant after election was contested by Alexis Benoit.
Vacant		March 20, 1896 – June 10, 1896	54th
Charles J. Boatner (Monroe)	Democratic	June 10, 1896 – March 3, 1897		Elected to finish his own term. Retired.
Samuel T. Baird (Bastrop)	Democratic	March 4, 1897 – April 22, 1899	55th 56th	Elected in 1896. Re-elected in 1898. Died.[11]
Vacant		April 22, 1899 – August 29, 1899	56th
Joseph E. Ransdell (Lake Providence)	Democratic	August 29, 1899 – March 3, 1913	56th 57th 58th 59th 60th 61st 62nd	Elected to finish Baird's term. Re-elected in 1900. Re-elected in 1902. Re-elected in 1904. Re-elected in 1906. Re-elected in 1908. Re-elected in 1910. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
James Walter Elder (Monroe)	Democratic	March 4, 1913 – March 3, 1915	63rd	Elected in 1912. Lost renomination.[12]
Riley J. Wilson (Ruston)	Democratic	March 4, 1915 – January 3, 1937	64th 65th 66th 67th 68th 69th 70th 71st 72nd 73rd 74th	Elected in 1914. Re-elected in 1916. Re-elected in 1918. Re-elected in 1920. Re-elected in 1922. Re-elected in 1924. Re-elected in 1926. Re-elected in 1928. Re-elected in 1930. Re-elected in 1932. Re-elected in 1934. Lost renomination.
Newt V. Mills (Monroe)	Democratic	January 3, 1937 – January 3, 1943	75th 76th 77th	Elected in 1936. Re-elected in 1938. Re-elected in 1940. Lost renomination.
Charles E. McKenzie (Monroe)	Democratic	January 3, 1943 – January 3, 1947	78th 79th	Elected in 1942. Re-elected in 1944. Lost renomination.
Otto Passman (Monroe)	Democratic	January 3, 1947 – January 3, 1977	80th 81st 82nd 83rd 84th 85th 86th 87th 88th 89th 90th 91st 92nd 93rd 94th	Elected in 1946. Re-elected in 1948. Re-elected in 1950. Re-elected in 1952. Re-elected in 1954. Re-elected in 1956. Re-elected in 1958. Re-elected in 1960. Re-elected in 1962. Re-elected in 1964. Re-elected in 1966. Re-elected in 1968. Re-elected in 1970. Re-elected in 1972. Re-elected in 1974. Lost renomination.
Jerry Huckaby (Ringgold)	Democratic	January 3, 1977 – January 3, 1993	95th 96th 97th 98th 99th 100th 101st 102nd	Elected in 1976. Re-elected in 1978. Re-elected in 1980. Re-elected in 1982. Re-elected in 1984. Re-elected in 1986. Re-elected in 1988. Re-elected in 1990. Lost re-election.
Jim McCrery (Shreveport)	Republican	January 3, 1993 – January 3, 1997	103rd 104th	Redistricted from the 4th district and re-elected in 1992. Re-elected in 1994. Redistricted to the 4th district.
John Cooksey (Monroe)	Republican	January 3, 1997 – January 3, 2003	105th 106th 107th	Elected in 1996. Re-elected in 1998. Re-elected in 2000. Retired to run for U.S. senator.
Rodney Alexander (Quitman)	Democratic	January 3, 2003 – August 9, 2004	108th 109th 110th 111th 112th 113th	Elected in 2002. Re-elected in 2004. Re-elected in 2006. Re-elected in 2008. Re-elected in 2010. Re-elected in 2012. Resigned to become Secretary of the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs.	2003–2013
	Republican	August 9, 2004 – September 26, 2013
					2013–2023
Vacant		September 26, 2013 – November 16, 2013	113th
Vance McAllister (Swartz)	Republican	November 16, 2013 – January 3, 2015		Elected to finish Alexander's term. Lost re-nomination.
Ralph Abraham (Alto)	Republican	January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2021	114th 115th 116th	Elected in 2014. Re-elected in 2016. Re-elected in 2018. Retired.[13]
Vacant		January 3, 2021 – April 14, 2021	117th	Representative-elect Luke Letlow died December 29, 2020.[14]
Julia Letlow (Start)	Republican	April 14, 2021 – present	117th 118th	Elected to finish her husband's term. Re-elected in 2022.
					2023–2025

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

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

• 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

31°45′59″N 91°49′25″W / 31.7664°N 91.8236°W / 31.7664; -91.8236