BATON ROUGE (AP) — Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell on Monday filed suit in the U.S. Supreme Court seeking to recover the congressional seat taken from the state as a result of the 2010 Census.

In a special legislative session in March, state lawmakers had to shrink the number of Louisiana’s congressional districts from seven to six. The way the plan was drawn, 7th District Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, and 3rd District Rep. Jeff Landry, R-New Iberia, have been thrown into the same district.

Congressional elections under the new plan will be held next fall, unless a lawsuit prevents that from happening.

Caldwell said the Census Bureau included illegal foreign nationals, along with holders of guest-worker and student visas, in the Census count of each state.

As a result, he said states with large numbers of illegal foreign nationals gained congressional seats, while states with low numbers — like Louisiana — lost congressional seats.

“Louisiana’s complaint simply asks the court to require the federal government to re-calculate the 2010 apportionment of U.S. House of Representatives seats based on legal residents, just as the (U.S.) Constitution requires,” Caldwell said.

The lawsuit would not require a new Census to be taken because “the needed information is already available in the 2010 Census results,” he said.

Caldwell spokeswoman Amanda Larkins told the Times-Picayune (http://bit.ly/vwjOLE ) that Louisiana, so far, is the only state to file a lawsuit with the high court making such a request. She called the legal action rare.

There currently are six Republicans and one Democrat in the state’s U.S. House delegation.