BATON ROUGE (AP) — Three black state lawmakers say they are weighing whether to run for three U.S. House seats this fall as independents, a move that could splinter Democratic support in the races. Sen. Don Cravins Jr., Sen. Lydia Jackson and Rep. Michael Jackson say the state and national Democratic parties have failed to recruit and support black candidates to run for federal and statewide offices. They said there's disparity between how the party treats black and white candidates.

"For many, many years, the African-American community has been very supportive of Democrats, and many of us feel that has not been reciprocated," said Cravins, D-Opelousas. Louisiana has only one black member of Congress: U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, a Democrat who represents a majority black district. All seven of Louisiana's U.S. House seats come up for election in November.