Red River Parish, Louisiana
Encyclopedia : R : RE : RED : Red River Parish, Louisiana
Red River Parish is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The parish seat is Coushatta and as of 2000, the population is 9,622.
Red River Parish is staunchly Democratic and was pro-Long in the days of Long and anti-Long competition. Therefore, it was surprising in the 2004 presidential election that Republican George W. Bush won the parish with 2,507 votes (53 percent) to 2,140 ballots (45 percent) for Democrat John F. Kerry.
A Long ally, Douglas Fowler of Coushatta, was named the new post of "custodian of voting machines" by Governor Earl Kemp Long and then elected to the position in 1960. The office was renamed "commissioner of elections" under the 1974 Constitution. Fowler was succeeded in the post in 1980 by his son, Jerry Fowler, of nearby Natchitoches in Natchitoches Parish.
Jerry Fowler pleaded guilty in 2000 to state and federal charges of malfeasance in office and conspiracy to launder kickbacks from overcharges to state voting machine vendors. He had been denied a general election ballot spot in 1999 by some 9,000 votes, was convicted of the charges, and imprisoned in Texas. The election commissioner's position went to Republican Suzanne Haik Terrell, who worked to abolish the post and to return the duties to the office of the secretary of state, effective in 2004.
Geography
The parish has a total area of 1,041 km2 (402 mi2). 1,008 km2 (389 mi2) of it is land and 33 km2 (13 mi2) of it (3.18%) is water.Adjacent parishes
- Caddo Parish (northwest)
- Bossier Parish (north)
- Bienville Parish (northeast)
- Natchitoches Parish (southeast)
- De Soto Parish (west)
Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 9,622 people, 3,414 households, and 2,526 families residing in the parish. The population density was 10/km2 (25/mi2). There were 3,988 housing units at an average density of 4/km2 (10/mi2). The racial makeup of the parish was 57.87% White, 40.91% Black or African American, 0.28% Native American, 0.09% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.61% from two or more races. 1.01% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.There were 3,414 households out of which 35.70% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.50% were married couples living together, 18.60% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.00% were non-families. 23.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.23.
In the parish the population was spread out with 30.10% under the age of 18, 9.30% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 21.50% from 45 to 64, and 14.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.40 males.
The median income for a household in the parish was $23,153, and the median income for a family was $27,870. Males had a median income of $27,132 versus $17,760 for females. The per capita income for the parish was $12,119. About 26.00% of families and 29.90% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.10% of those under age 18 and 18.90% of those age 65 or over.
Cities, towns, and villages
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