Break Even in Louisana Congressional Races

We lost a seat to an R and picked up a seat from an R.

The 2004 U.S. elections ended on Saturday with Republicans and Democrats swapping one U.S. House of Representatives seat each in runoff elections in Louisiana.

Democrat Charlie Melancon won the race to succeed retiring Republican Rep. Billy Tauzin in Louisiana's 3rd District. Melancon, a former state lawmaker, took the seat by about 500 votes over Tauzin's son, Billy Tauzin III, in the younger Tauzin's first run for public office.

In the state's 7th District, which includes the city of Lafayette and the Cajun areas of southwest Louisiana, retired heart surgeon Charles Boustany, a Republican, will succeed four-term Democrat Chris John, who gave up his seat for an unsuccessful U.S. Senate bid. Boustany handily beat his Democratic opponent, state Sen. Willie Mount, by a 10-point margin....