Louisiana's 3rd congressional district

Louisiana's 3rd congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The district covers the south central tier of the state west to the Texas border.

The district is currently represented by Republican Charles Boustany who defeated Jeff Landry in a runoff election which pitted the two incumbents against each other after the 2012 redistricting.

History

Louisiana gained its 2nd and 3rd Congressional Districts in 1823 as part of the 18th United States Congress. Since at least the 1870s, the district has borne heavy influence of southern Louisiana's Acadian culture and several of the related parishes.

Although the 3rd Congressional District had been Democratic through much of its history, it is the sole district in Louisiana to have been represented by three parties during the 20th century, in that Whitmell P. Martin represented the district as a "Bull Moose" Progressive from 1915 to 1919, when he switched to the Democrats. Martin remained in office as a Democrat until his death in 1929. The district became more competitive for the Republicans later in the 20th century. In 1966, Hall Lyons of Lafayette, polled 40 percent of the vote as a Republican candidate against veteran Democratic incumbent Edwin E. Willis. In 1972, the district elected David C. Treen as the first Republican U.S. representative from Louisiana since 1891.

Louisiana Highway 3

Louisiana Highway 3 (LA 3) is a state highway located in Bossier Parish, Louisiana that runs 35.8 miles (57.6 km) in a north–south direction from a junction with Interstate 20 (I-20), U.S. Highway 71 (US 71), and LA 72 in Bossier City to the Arkansas state line north of Plain Dealing.

LA 3 connects Bossier City, the largest city in Bossier Parish, with the town of Benton, the parish seat. Apart from the interchange with I-20 and US 71 at its southern terminus, LA 3 also connects to I-220, the northern bypass of Shreveport and Bossier City. North of Benton, LA 3 passes through Plain Dealing where it intersects LA 2, Louisiana's northernmost cross-state route.

The majority of LA 3, extending from I-220 north to the Arkansas state line, is part of the Northwest Louisiana Scenic Byway, one of the state-designated Louisiana Scenic Byways.

Route description

From the south, LA 3 begins at an intersection with LA 72 (Old Minden Road) in Bossier City. Opposite this intersection are ramps leading to a partial interchange with I-20 and US 71 at the point where the two highways begin a concurrency across the Red River westward into Shreveport. Traffic from southbound LA 3 can enter I-20 westbound only (concurrent with northbound US 71), and traffic from eastbound I-20 (concurrent with southbound US 71) can exit to LA 3 north at Exit 20B. All movements are supported between LA 3 and US 71.