Eunice-area residents lost one state senator earlier this year and could lose another before the year is out.

Don Cravins, Jr. resigned his Louisiana Senate seat to take a post with the U.S. Senate panel chaired by Mary Landrieu, D-Louisiana. A special election is scheduled April 4 to fill that post.

Now, Landrieu has nominated State Sen. Eric LaFleur of Ville Platte as U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Louisiana.

LaFleur’s district includes a good portion of Eunice.

The seat is now held by Donald Washington, appointed by President George W. Bush in September 2001. President Barack Obama will make a nomination from among three recommendations submitted by Landrieu.

She has also suggested Rick Gallot of Grambling, coincidentally a roommate of LaFleur’s for seven years in Baton Rouge.

LaFleur served as former felony prosecutor for District Attorney Harry Connick Sr. in New Orleans shortly after he finished law school. He quickly moved up the ranks to senior felony prosecutor, where he handled over 1,000 felony cases and represented the state in 63 jury trials. He also served as a special prosecutor with the Louisiana Department of Justice.

Landrieu has not yet announced her third nomination, nor has she revealed who she is considering as nominees to succeed Western District Judge Tucker Melancon, who took senior status in February.