be able to vote, use public places and facilities, and be treated as the United States citizens they were. In the early 1960s African Americans increased their efforts to create political change, at a time when there was social unrest related to cultural changes and gradually increasing opposition to the Vietnam War. In many southern states, white conservative voters began to vote for Republican presidential candidates, as a sign of their future political realignment. The national Democratic Party supported civil rights, as exemplified by President Lyndon B. Johnson gaining passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Many southern white conservative voters began to leave the Democratic Party for the Republican Party. Following passage of the Voting Rights Act, gradually African Americans in Louisiana and other states regained the ability to register and vote. Most affiliated with the national Democratic Party and supported its candidates. Voter turnout rose dramatically as African Americans rejoined the political process; people began to be politically active at all levels. They began to field their own candidates. From the 1930s, after many African Americans had left the state seeking work in other areas in the Great Migration, Louisiana has been majority white. Some areas have black majorities, as did New Orleans. The process of party switching appears to have been slower in Louisiana than in some other Southern states, as Democratic candidates continued to win governorships through the 20th century. 2000 to present Hurricane Katrina The evacuations and extensive damage to residential areas resulting from Hurricane Katrina had far-reaching political effects in the state. Because black residential areas of New Orleans were so damaged, many residents had to stay away, and some resettled in other states or cities. After the storm there was a twofold shift in the political electorate. "First, the exodus of Democratic voters to Texas, Florida and other parts of the country could affect local and statewide races in Louisiana--to the benefit of Republicans. At the same time, many of those who left New Orleans went to other parts of Louisiana, producing new micro-electorates where Democrats have moved into traditionally Republican areas." One example of change was Baton Rouge, which gained an increase of 50,000 people after Katrina, many of them African Americans from the New Orleans area. The changes resulted in Democrat Don Cazayoux winning Louisiana's 6th congressional district "after more than three decades