BATON ROUGE — Nine states redrew congressional district boundaries this summer as the midterm elections approached. Many competitive, deeply red states redrew those maps at former President Donald Trump's direction to give Republicans an advantage.

Nationwide, that strategy appeared to backfire as Democratic candidates won nearly all of those districts. In Louisiana, however, where lawmakers redrew boundaries at the direction of the U.S. Supreme Court, Democrats proved far more competitive than most observers anticipated.

Tuesday’s results surprised even seasoned political analysts. Ashley Shelton, with the Power Coalition for Equity and Justice, said she has not stopped thinking about Democratic victories across the country.

“Tuesday was unbelievable,” Shelton said. "This was about people power. This wasn't about voters heading out in droves to hit the R or D button. This was about voters picking themselves, their communities and their families."

In Louisiana, the secretary of state's office reported that more than 260,000 ballots were cast in the 6th Congressional District race alone — a district redrawn by state lawmakers to give Republicans an advantage.

On Tuesday, former Baton Rouge Metro Council member Chauna Banks, a Democrat, finished in first place, with state Sen. Blake Miguez trailing close behind by fewer than 700 votes. The narrow margin forced a Dec. 12 runoff.

Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Director Dadrius Lanus said those results were intentional, noting that Democratic candidates performed better than expected even in districts won by Republicans.

"This organizing momentum is not going to stop," Lanus said. "The last six months we visited over 50 different cities across 50 different parishes and had precinct organizers making phone calls, knocking on doors and sending emails."

Derek Babcock, chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana, said he hopes the December runoff delivers more victories for the GOP.

"There was a blue wave, some say a blue tsunami, and we didn't see that in Louisiana,” Babcock said. "Voter registration is great. We passed the democrats in July, but it's voter turnout that matters."

The runoff election is scheduled for Dec. 12.