Democrats pick up House seat in Louisiana

NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - A Louisiana Democrat won a special congressional election in a district held by Republicans for more than two decades, increasing her party's majority in the House of Representatives, results from the state showed on Sunday.

State Rep. Don Cazayoux narrowly defeated Republican Woody Jenkins for the seat in Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, which includes part of the capital city of Baton Rouge.

Cazayoux's received 49 percent of the vote, while Jenkins, a former state legislator and a favorite of the religious right, finished the race with 46 percent, according to results from the Louisiana Secretary of State.

The race for the seat vacated by Republican Rep. Richard Baker was viewed as a bellwether for November's elections, when Democrats hope to increase majorities in the House and Senate and take the White House.

Baker, who resigned in February to work as a lobbyist, had held the seat since 1986.

During the campaign, Cazayoux sought to distance himself from the Democratic Party while playing up his conservative stances on social issues like abortion.

In the state's other special congressional election on Saturday, Republican state lawmaker Steve Scalise easily beat Democratic rival Gilda Reed to fill the 1st District seat to replace Republican Bobby Jindal. Jindal became governor in January.

Scalise won 75 percent of the vote, according to election results from the Louisiana Secretary of State. (Reporting by Russell McCulley and editing by Anna Driver)