VIDALIA — With the help of the 2010 census numbers, many voters in Concordia Parish will have a new senator in the Legislature in 2012.

District 32 S Sen. Neil Riser, who previously represented the majority of Concordia Parish, will now share the parish with District 34 Sen. Francis Thompson.

Thompson will represent Ferriday, Clayton, Ridgecrest and the lake areas of the parish.

Riser will only represent the greater Vidalia area.

Thompson previously represented Clayton and a small portion of Ferriday and said he is excited about representing a larger part of Concordia.

“I have built a good relationship with many people in Concordia, and I am very pleased to continuing to represent the parish,” he said. “There are a lot of opportunities in the parish, and we need to continue to move forward and attract more industry and jobs to the area.”

Thompson’s District 34 is classified as a minority district, and a large portion of the area he represents will include minorities.

“Out of all eight parishes I represent, around 70 percent of the voters are minorities,” he said.

Thompson said while he will be representing a larger portion of the parish, voters should not notice a difference in how things are done.

“I have represented Concordia before, and Sen. Riser and I have always worked closely together,” he said. “We are going to continue to work closely together. If there is a problem in Concordia, we are going to address those needs.”

Riser said while he may no longer represent certain areas of Concordia Parish, he will continue to do what he can for parish residents.

“There is no line in the parish to me,” he said. “I will be working 100 percent there just as if I had all of it.”

Thompson said he wants to help push Concordia to even higher levels.

“I want to make sure we are as competitive as any other area of the state,” he said. “I want Concordia to prosper.”

Concordia Parish Police Jury President Melvin Ferrington said Thompson will be a great asset to the parish.

“He has always been a great help to us, and I believe he will continue to be very beneficial to us,” he said. “The added help of having him and (Riser) will make things a little easier.”

Riser said the changes, approved by the state legislature last week, pushed most senator’s districts south a bit.

“The senator above me could not move his lines into Arkansas,” he said. “When they started losing population in their district, they had to push further south.”

The Louisiana House of Representatives also redrew their lines, but Concordia Parish will remain unaffected, Ferrington said.

District 21 Rep. Andy Anders will remain the parish’s House representative. Ferrington said Anders will represent a larger area, but that should not affect parish residents.

Louisiana’s new U.S. Congressional Districts were also finalized last week.

The state went from seven districts to six, spreading out state representatives’ areas of coverage.

Concordia Parish is in the Fifth Congressional District where Rodney Alexander serves as congressman.

The move from seven districts to six will not affect Concordia Parish, but Alexander will represent a larger area, and with a busier schedule, but local leaders feel confident their voices will still be heard.

“I don’t think this is going to cause any problem,” Ferrington said. “I believe he has got the right staff to cover the district. He has always been very responsive to us, and I believe he will continue to do that.”

Every 10 years after the census, the Legislature must redistrict the state’s voting lines to reflect the results of the census.

The Legislature entered into the special session March 20 to try and come up with a new plan for Louisiana.