Louisiana

With election just months away, Louisiana awaits ruling on Congress map, Black district

Published

2 years ago

April 10, 2024

With election just months away, Louisiana awaits ruling on Congress map, Black district

Louisiana’s incumbent representatives and their voters are on pins and needles as they await a federal three-judge panel’s ruling on whether the state’s new congressional map that created a second Black district will stand after a three-day trial in Shreveport on a lawsuit challenging the boundaries ended Wednesday.

At stake are the political careers of the incumbents and scope of representation for the state’s Black voters, who represent about one-third of the population but until now had only one of the state’s six congressional districts in which they held a majority with the Nov. 5 election less than seven months away.

Plaintiffs argued that the map passed by the state Republican Legislature and signed into law by Republican Gov. Jeff Landry should be overturned because they contend its boundaries were gerrymandered solely based on race to create a second Black district.

The lawsuit challenging the map attacks the new majority Black 6th Congressional District boundaries stretching from Baton Rouge to Lafayette to Alexandria to Shreveport as unconstitutional, saying they don’t meet traditional redistriction principles like compactness and preserving communities of interests.

But the state contends additional factors drove the map, including the politics of protecting powerful incumbent Louisiana Republicans U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (4th District), Majority Leader Steve Scalise (1st District) and Julia Letlow (5th District), a member of the Appropriations Committee that controls the country’s pursestrings.

Doing so put Republican U.S. Rep. Graves, the current 6th District congressman, in peril by dismantling his boundaries in favor of a majority Black voter population.

Graves has insisted the map is unconstitutional and predicts it will be overturned by the federal court.

But even though it’s Graves’ career in Congress that is most at risk, the other incumbents will also have to run in new boundaries in the Nov. 5, 2024 presidential and congressional elections if the map holds.

Meanwhile, voters also await final word on what district they will live in and whether Black voters will keep their hard-fought chance to double their representation in Congress.

Democratic Louisiana Sen. Royce Duplessis of New Orleans and Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis were the final two witnesses for the defense Wednesday in support of the map.

“I was proud when Gov. Landry said he was going to do the right thing and very proud in the bipartisan vote for the map that is current law,” Duplessis said, testifying he believes the map to be fair and that political considerations also drove the boundaries of the map.

But previous witnesses for the defense testified that there was a single-minded effort to draw the new map on race alone.

“The racial component was the fundamental tenet,” Republican Shreveport state Sen. Thomas Pressly testified Monday. “We were told we had to have two African-American districts. Otherwise the court would draw the map for us.”

The lawsuit is just the latest litigation challenging the state’s congressional boundaries.

Late last year a federal appeals court upheld Baton Rouge Middle District Judge Shelly Dick’s earlier ruling requiring Louisiana’s congressional map be redrawn to include a second majority Black district out of six to comply with the Voting Rights Act.

Those rulings sprang from the efforts of civil rights and voting rights groups like the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, ACLU and others who have been logging court battles for two years seeking a second Black majority district.

Attorneys for those groups, known as intervenors, joined with the state attorneys in defending the current map during this week’s federal trial.

Attorneys for both groups told USA Today Network they hope the judges will issue a ruling within a week, but there is no deadline.

The three-judge panel includes Carl Stewart, a Bill Clinton appointee from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals, and Robert Summershays and David Joseph, both Donald Trump appointees from the U.S. Western District.

More: Trial begins in Shreveport on whether Louisiana’s new Black congressional district is legal

More: Testimony: Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry wanted Rep. Garret Graves out in new congress map

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1.

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Louisiana

Louisiana Lottery Pick 3, Pick 4 results for Dec. 28, 2025

Published

6 days ago

December 29, 2025

Press Room

The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 28, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Pick 3 numbers from Dec. 28 drawing

9-7-6

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from Dec. 28 drawing

9-0-5-0

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 5 numbers from Dec. 28 drawing

3-3-8-8-8

Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

All Louisiana Lottery retailers will redeem prizes up to $600. For prizes over $600, winners can submit winning tickets through the mail or in person at Louisiana Lottery offices. Prizes of over $5,000 must be claimed at Lottery office.

By mail, follow these instructions:

Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.

Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:

Louisiana Lottery Headquarters

555 Laurel Street

Baton Rouge, LA 70801

To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:

555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.

Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.

When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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Louisiana

Kyla Oldacre and Madison Booker lead No. 2 Texas over Southeastern Louisiana 120-38

Published

6 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

Kyla Oldacre and Madison Booker lead No. 2 Texas over Southeastern Louisiana 120-38

AUSTIN, Texas — Senior Kyla Oldacre scored a career-high 22 points and Madison Booker added 20 to help No. 2 Texas finish its non-conference schedule undefeated with a 120-38 victory over Southeastern Louisiana on Sunday.

Texas (15-0) has won 34 straight home games. First-half scoring bursts of 26-0 and 21-0 secured the victory early.

The Longhorns scored 68 points in the paint against an opponent that used no player taller than six feet in its rotation. The 6-6 Oldacre hit 9 of 10 shots from the field and 4 of 5 free throws in 19 minutes off the bench.

A starting lineup that includes four guards did not help the Lady Lions avoid ball-handling and passing mistakes. They committed 30 turnovers that Texas converted into 50 points. Twenty turnovers came in the first half before Texas pulled out of its full-court defense.

Jordan Lee scored 16 for Texas, including four 3-pointers. Breya Cunningham and Bryanna Preston each scored 12, with Preston also producing three of the Longhorns’ 16 steals. Rori Harmon had six assists and no turnovers, increasing her string to 57 and three over the last six games.

Eryn McKinzie led Southeastern Louisiana (2-8) with 13 points. The 38 points scored by the Lady Lions is their second-lowest production this season. They lost to LSU 115-26 on Nov. 6.

Texas beat nationally ranked UCLA, South Carolina, North Carolina and Baylor, using a seven-player rotation that was missing the injured Ashton Judd, Aaliyah Crump and Bryanna Preston. Judd and Preston have returned, but Crump, a freshman who averaged 13 points in her first five games, missed the last 10 with a foot injury.

Southeastern Louisiana guard Eryn McKinzie (3) is defended by Texas guard Ashton Judd (21) and forward Teya Sidberry (32) during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Sunday, Dec. 28, 2025, in Austin, Texas. Credit: AP/Stephen Spillman

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Southeastern Louisiana is at Incarnate Word on Wednesday.

Texas is at Missouri on Thursday.

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Louisiana

Louisiana Lottery Powerball, Pick 3 results for Dec. 27, 2025

Published

7 days ago

December 28, 2025

Press Room

The Louisiana Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big. Here’s a look at Dec. 27, 2025, results for each game:

Winning Powerball numbers from Dec. 27 drawing

05-20-34-39-62, Powerball: 01, Power Play: 2

Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 3 numbers from Dec. 27 drawing

0-8-6

Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 4 numbers from Dec. 27 drawing

9-3-8-3

Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Pick 5 numbers from Dec. 27 drawing

3-8-4-7-6

Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Easy 5 numbers from Dec. 27 drawing

14-25-27-30-37

Check Easy 5 payouts and previous drawings here.

Winning Lotto numbers from Dec. 27 drawing

07-22-27-34-38-39

Check Lotto payouts and previous drawings here.

Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results

Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize

By mail, follow these instructions:

Sign and complete the information on the back of your winning ticket, ensuring all barcodes are clearly visible (remove all scratch-off material from scratch-off tickets).
Photocopy the front and back of the ticket (except for Powerball and Mega Millions tickets, as photocopies are not accepted for these games).
Complete the Louisiana Lottery Prize Claim Form, including your telephone number and mailing address for prize check processing.
Photocopy your valid driver’s license or current picture identification.

Mail all of the above in a single envelope to:

Louisiana Lottery Headquarters

555 Laurel Street

Baton Rouge, LA 70801

To submit in person, visit Louisiana Lottery headquarters:

555 Laurel Street, Baton Rouge, LA 70801, (225) 297-2000.

Hours: 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. This office can cash prizes of any amount.

Check previous winning numbers and payouts at Louisiana Lottery.

When are the Louisiana Lottery drawings held?

Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT Tuesday and Friday.
Pick 3, Pick 4 and Pick 5: Daily at 9:59 p.m. CT.
Easy 5: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.
Lotto: 9:59 p.m. CT Wednesday and Saturday.

This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a Louisiana editor. You can send feedback using this form.

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