Boustany Keeps House Seat As Delegation Shrinks

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Tea party support wasn't enough to return Republican U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry to Congress for a second term after Louisiana lost a U.S. House seat in redistricting.

His fellow GOP congressman, Charles Boustany, easily defeated Landry in Saturday's runoff election after the two men were forced into the same district.

Boustany, a retired doctor from Lafayette, will represent the 3rd District covering southwest Louisiana and Acadiana next year. It will be his fifth term.

Both men ran as conservative Republicans opposed to the policies of President Barack Obama.

Landry's grassroots backing from tea party organizers wasn't enough to propel him to victory in a district design that favored Boustany, a traditional Republican candidate allied with House Speaker John Boehner.

The race was one of Louisiana's most expensive congressional contests