Recently-elected Reps. Ralph Abraham and Garret Graves were sworn into office along with 56 other freshmen lawmakers from around the country. Cassidy took the oath of office as Louisiana’s newest senator as the chamber changed hands, with Republicans now in charge.

Abraham, a doctor from the small town of Alto, takes over the northeast Louisiana-based 5th District seat previously held by Republican Vance McAllister, who lost his re-election bid after he was caught up in scandal when a video showed him kissing a woman who was not his wife.

Graves holds the Baton Rouge-based 6th District seat vacated by Cassidy after winning a runoff against Democratic former Gov. Edwin Edwards, who was trying to make a political comeback after serving time in a federal prison for a corruption conviction.

To win their House seats, Abraham and Graves campaigned as conservatives who largely oppose the policies of President Barack Obama, a strategy that also succeeded for Cassidy. He defeated three-term incumbent Mary Landrieu in December, costing Democrats their last Senate seat in the Deep South and last statewide elected official in Louisiana.

With the latest Congress, Louisiana’s delegation has only one Democrat among its two senators and six representatives: Rep. Cedric Richmond, who represents the New Orleans-based 2nd District.

Because Louisiana’s congressional elections didn’t wrap up until December, a month later than the rest of the state’s races, Abraham and Graves were a bit behind their new colleagues.

“I missed the general orientation process that the other congressmen were able to attend. That’s not a big deal. We’ve been able to catch up very quickly,” Abraham said.

Graves starts off with more background on the workings of Congress than Abraham, after working as a congressional aide for many years in Washington.