Since 1812, Louisiana has operated under 11
constitutions, the most recent dating from 1974. The Louisiana
legislature is composed of two houses--a 39-member senate and a
105-member house of representatives. Legislative sessions are annual.
Legislators are elected for concurrent terms of 4 years. Judicial
power is vested in the supreme court, the courts of appeals, and the
district courts.The executive branch is headed by a governor elected
to a 4-year term. Other major elected state officials include the
lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, and
treasurer.
GEOGRAPHICAL MOBILITY
The state is divided into 64 parishes. The original territory was
divided into 12 somewhat indefinitely bounded counties, coinciding
with parish boundaries established by the Roman Catholic church
during colonial times. Since 1845 the term "parish" has been used for
these political subdivisions. The eight parishes north of Lake
Pontchartrain and east of the Mississippi, known as the Florida
Parishes, were once a part of Spanish Florida. Parishes, except for
the six with city-parish governments, are governed by elected bodies
called police juries.
From 1877 until after World War II, Louisiana was controlled by
Democrats. Since the 1950s, however, Republican U.S. presidential candidates have
frequently won the state's electoral votes. In 1964, for the first
time in this century, two Republicans were elected to the state
legislature, and in 1980 a Republican, David C. Treen, was elected
governor. On March 11, 1991, Governor Buddy Roemer, elected as a
Democrat, announced he was now a Republican, and would run as a
Republican candidated in the fall election.
Governor
Bobby Jindal
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