Louisiana's 5th congressional district

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, 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).

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

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.

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.

Parishes and communities

For the 119th and successive Congresses (based on the districts drawn following a 2023 court order), the district contains all or portions of the following parishes and communities.

Ascension Parish (1)

Prairieville (part; also 2nd)

Avoyelles Parish (6)

Bordelonville, Center Point, Fifth Ward, Hessmer, Mansura (part; also 6th), Marksville

Caldwell Parish (4)

All four communities

Catahoula Parish (4)

All four communities

Concordia Parish (7)

All seven communities

East Baton Rouge Parish (9)