VIDALIA — Redistricting due to census numbers may mean Concordia Parish becomes a smaller dot on the congressional map.

The State of Louisiana is set to lose a congressional seat — going from seven seats to six — based on a smaller-than-others population growth.

Louisiana was one of the five slowest growing states in the last decade along with Michigan, Rhode Island, Ohio and New York.

Fifth District Rep. Rodney Alexander, who represents Concordia Parish, said the affects of hurricanes Katrina and Rita were a major factor for the limited population growth in the state.

“We had many people leave after them, and we haven’t really fully recovered from that,” he said.

With the loss of one seat looming in the future, state leaders are meeting in March to begin redrawing congressional maps.

“North of Interstate 10 makes up most of the geography of the district now, and that population has remained steady at around 1.5 million,” Alexander said.

Without parish-by-parish numbers, the future of the Fifth Congressional District is still up in the air though.

District 21 State Rep. Andy Anders said District Five is the largest rural crop district in the nation and that it is important to keep a congressional seat in the district.

“Agriculture is the biggest industry in the state between forestry and everything else,” he said. “I am certainly going to fight to keep the Fifth District the same, and we are going to do our best to come up with the right compromise to bring to Washington.”

Vidalia Mayor Hyram Copeland said if District Five were to combine with another and become larger, the effects on the area would be difficult to manage.

“I am very concerned with this; it does affect us,” he said. “We work very close with our officials on the projects in our area, and a loss of a representative could affect the work we are doing on our projects.”

Concordia Parish Economic and Industrial Development District Executive Director Heather Malone said the loss of a Louisiana voice in Washington, D.C, means it is going to be harder to acquire funding for projects in the parish.

“We are going to be fighting a little bit harder to get what we need,” she said. “Our congressmen are going to be spread thinner, because there are so many people talking to their congressmen to get the things they need.”

Malone said due to the rural nature of Concordia Parish, leaders have a harder time acquiring funds already.

“Because we have a larger area with the people spread out, it makes it more difficult,” she said. “This is a large physical area to cover, and if the districts are combined, that makes it even larger, and we are going to have to fight for funds for projects with other rural areas who are trying also.”

Malone said Concordia Parish’s great track record on completing government-funded projects does give the parish a bit of an advantage when it does need state and federal help.

“When we get funds, we spend it in the way it was meant to be spent, and we get things done,” she said.

According to the Federal Voting Rights Act, Louisiana has to maintain a majority black congressional district, which is currently the Second District based in New Orleans.

Alexander said with the loss of a seat, the 33-percent black vote in the state, redistricting may involve adding another minority district.

“The question is what will the justice department say,” he said. “With six seats, will they be comfortable with one minority district, or two? It is going to be interesting to see what they decide to do.”

District Five aside, Alexander said losing one seat is detrimental enough for the entire state.

“Of course anytime a state loses a seat, they lose a vote in the House, and they also lose revenue that comes back to the states based on population,” he said. “That is not good for the state vote-wise or financially.”

Alexander said the state has plans in place, and is working on new plans, to help retain current residents in the state, and recruit new people into the state.

“We feel like the state and the legislature have done some good things to encourage growth,” he said. “The state and the governor have made some wise decisions, and we fully expect more and more people to be looking at Louisiana as a very food business climate.”

Alexander said bringing more business would also bring in a higher population due to the increase in jobs.

“We still have people leaving the state for jobs, and we have plans to prevent that in the future,” he said. “We need to do whatever we can to bring more jobs and people in.”