by William DiLella

Louisiana congressmen Jeff Landry (R - New Iberia) and Charles Boustany M.D. (R - Lafayette) find themselves in unfamiliar territory—as their two districts have become one united Acadiana apportionment. This is not uncommon in the current state of Louisiana politics, as the population shifts and dips became clear after the 2010 census. Now, in the 2012 elections, these two incumbents have been forced to battle it out for the last seat in town, and that battle has stretched out from November 6 to December 8, where the winner will really take it all.

In Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District, two Republican incumbents - one Tea Partier and one Grand Old Partier - are squaring off in a winner-take-all battle for to represent Cajun Country in Washington.

From Big Bird to marijuana cigarettes, campaign season is filled with many distractions. But as the election approaches it's time to get serious about casting ballots. Today is the last day to register to vote for the Nov. 6 election, which includes the presidential contest and a slew of local elections from Congress to civil court judge. Only new registrants and people who need to make changes to their information are required to register. Louisiana has a handy portal at GeauxVote.com where would-be voters can take care of the whole thing via the wonders of the Web. 

After weeks of looking like it might pass then eventually not passing, a transportation bill containing a key provision for Gulf states in the wake of the Big Oozy was waved home by the U.S. House of Representatives today, setting it up to head to the President's desk for signing. The RESTORE Act dedicates 80 percent of fine money paid by BP and the others responsible for the Big Oozy to pay for enviornmental and economic programs in Gulf states.

by Mary-Devon Dupuy

Up in Washington, it's been just a busy day that we've had a whiff of it all the way down here in the provinces. And it's not just because of the Supreme Court's health care ruling this morning. The afternoon's drama featured Democrats walking out of Capitol chambers as the House of Representatives was voting to hold Attorney General Eric Holder in contempt for refusing to turn over Fast and Furious documents. As it happened, Holder was in New Orleans this afternoon, and appeared at Jim Letten's office to offer a statement about the vote.

    When I initially learned of the massacre that occurred last week in Arizona, and that the intended target was U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords

Updated 4:15 p.m.

Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords was shot in the head today outside a Safeway in Tuscon, Ariz. The story seems destined to blow up into a partisan firestorm, as the Democrat is already being linked to tea party political hit-lists (literally), before we can even get clear word about whether or not she is alive. So, at this hour, it's worth taking a second to read something she wrote back in 2005, after another national tragedy occurred. Giffords went to Houston to help people displaced by K. In a blog for her campaign website, she recounted the unthinkable size and weight of the devastation on the people moving throughdisaster relief lines. To close, she wrote, "But we can and should learn from their experiences when sifting through the evidence of what went wrong." Sounds simple enough, right?

As today's revealed data shows, Louisiana will in fact lose one of its congressional seats, due to the population's failure to keep up with other southern/western states. This means LA loses again (sad emoticon), heading from seven to six seats in the 2012 election period.