Sunday December 5, 2004 9:01 AM
AP Photo LALAF104
By ADAM NOSSITER
Associated Press Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Republicans picked up a congressional seat in southern Louisiana on Saturday, but gave another right back to Democrats in a second, much closer runoff election that was also in Cajun country.
A longtime Democratic bastion in Louisiana's 7th District went to Republican Charles Boustany, a retired heart surgeon. With 94 percent of the precincts reporting, Boustany had 72,223 votes or 55 percent, and Democratic state Sen. Willie Landry Mount had 58,968 or 45 percent.
Farther south, Billy Tauzin III narrowly lost a race to succeed his retiring father, a Republican House of Representatives powerhouse. In the 3rd District, with 100 percent of precincts reporting, Democrat Charles Melancon had 57,609 votes, and Tauzin trailed him by barely 500 votes, with 57,092.
Louisiana has no law requiring an automatic recount of a close election. All absentee votes were included, and no clerks reported provisional ballots
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Democrats had hoped for a big turnout in the districts, which are nearly a quarter black, but they didn't get it.
``With all the advertisements, I would have thought a lot of people are really, really turned off,'' said Bobby Boudreaux, court clerk in Terrebonne Parish in the 3rd District.
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