Session was example of raw politics in action
by Mike Hasten - The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

With a majority in the House and Senate and a governor pulling strings, the Republican Party flexed its muscles during the session. But there were times when it couldn't do it alone. Rep. Taylor Barras, a New Iberia Democrat, voted almost every time with Republicans. His was the swing vote that twice kept fellow Democrat Sen. Lydia Jackson's horizontal district bill from reaching the House floor for a vote.

At first, Barras said it was because Iberia Parish was split in some plans and local politics triumphed. But in the final congressional plan, Iberia was whole. Barras said he held firm to the principle pushed by U.S. Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, and some political and business leaders that there should be a congressional district running along the Gulf Coast. But there never was such a plan because, as House redistricting committee chairman Rep. Rick Gallot said, "The numbers wouldn't work."

In the final vote, Barras joined other Democrats in voting not to concur in Senate amendments to Eric Ponti's congressional bill. It didn't have a coastal district, either.