Since Louisiana’s next legislative general election is in 2011, the state’s current batch of legislators will be responsible for drawing maps for State House and Senate, U.S. House, and several other state commissions. And with Louisiana likely to lose one of its seven U.S. House seats after the 2010 Census, the fight over how to draw a six-seat map is already underway.

The conservative Louisiana Family Forum – one of the most powerful special interests in the state – fired its first shot back in March, when it released a proposed map that would combine the Democratic-held 3rd district with the Democratic-leaning areas of New Orleans and Baton Rouge. Their plan is clearly a non-starter, partly because of regional rivalries between New Orleans and Baton Rouge legislators and partly because Democrats control both legislative houses, but other groups are beginning to join the fight:

Meanwhile, counter maps are already being created to push back against the Family Forum map. One of those maps made its way onto a Louisiana political blog on Monday. That map sought to retain both the 2nd and 3rd districts by combining most of Melancon’s district with nearly all of Republican Rep. Charles Boustany’s 7th district seat to form a new 3rd district.

Another early idea being tossed around by some Democrats involves creating a six- district map by combining a portion of northern Louisiana’s 4th and 5th districts and dividing the southern parts of those districts among the four remaining districts.

For reference, Louisiana’s current congressional maps are posted online at nationalatlas.gov.

Whatever the final product in 2010, Louisiana’s new maps will likely reflect the precarious political balance in the state. While Democrats narrowly control the legislature, 2010 redistricting bills can be vetoed by Republican Governor Bobby Jindal, and Louisiana legislators’ regional loyalties might have as much impact on the process as their political loyalties. In addition, any redistricting plan must first be approved by the U.S. Justice Department under Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act.