Ascension Parish

Ascension Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Ascension) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 107,215. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created in 1807. Ascension Parish (French: Paroisse de l'Ascension) is a parish located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2010 census, the population was 107,215. Its parish seat is Donaldsonville. The parish was created in 1807. Ascension Parish is part of the Baton Rouge, LA Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is one of the fastest-growing parishes in the state. During the American Civil War, desertions had been of major concern to the Confederate States Army. Henry Watkins Allen, before he was governor, reported more than eight thousand deserters and draft-dodgers about Bayou Teche. There were some 1,200 deserters in Livingston, St. Tammany, and Ascension parishes. Planters in Ascension Parish later complained of raids by guerrillas. In 1864, planter W.R. Hodges requested soldiers to protect the planted fields from such attacks. Union soldiers were accused of 'wandering about at will, and helping themselves . . . to whatever could be found,' explains the historian John D. Winters in his The Civil War in Louisiana (1963). During the historic 2016 Louisiana Floods, around one-third of all homes in Ascension Parish were flooded. 15,000 homes and businesses took on water, mostly in the Galvez-St. Amant area, prompting a visit to St. Amant by then-presidential candidate, Donald J. Trump. Ascension Parish is one of the 22 parishes that make up Acadiana, the heartland of the Cajun people and their culture. This is exhibited by the prevalence of the French or Cajun French language heard throughout the parish, as well as the many festivals celebrated by its residents, including the Boucherie Festival, Lagniappe Music and Seafood Festival, Crawfish Festival, and the world-famous Jambalaya Festival. The largest city in Ascension Parish, Gonzales, is celebrated as the 'Jambalaya Capital of the World'. Long a Democratic bastion, since the late 20th century, like much of the rest of the South, Ascension Parish has registered more Republicans and election results have shifted. Since 2000, nearly 14,000 new voters have registered in Ascension Parish, and fewer than 1,000 of those are Democrats. Democrats still lead in registrants with 28,181; Republicans follow with 16,218. There are also 13,052 'No Party' registrants, as permitted under Louisiana law. Ascension Parish also had a small number of voters registered as upper case Independents. As of April 2007 there were 31 Libertarian Party members and 33 Reform Party registrants. The total registrants in April 2007 stood at 58,221.