Special election primaries to be held in Louisiana state legislative districts

By

Tyler King

Special election primaries are being held on Nov. 13 for one seat in the Louisiana State Senate and two seats in the Louisiana House of Representatives. The winners of the special elections will serve until Jan. 8, 2024.

* In Senate District 27, Dustin Granger (D), Jake Shaheen (R), and Jeremy Stine (R) are running in the special election. The seat became vacant when Ronnie Johns (R) resigned in July after Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) appointed him as chairman of the Louisiana State Gaming Control Board. Johns had represented the district since 2012.

  • In House District 16, Charles Bradford (D), Alicia Calvin (D), and Adrian Fisher (D) are running in the special election. The seat became vacant on July 16 when Frederick D. Jones (D) resigned after being elected to the Fourth Judicial District Court. Jones had represented the district since 2020.
  • In House District 102, Delisha Boyd (D) is facing off against Jordan Bridges (D). The seat became vacant after Gary Carter Jr. (D) was elected to the state Senate in a special election on June 12. Carter had represented the district since 2016.

Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.

Louisiana has a divided government, and no political party holds a state government trifecta. A trifecta exists when one political party simultaneously holds the governor’s office and majorities in both state legislative chambers. Republicans control the state Senate by a 26-12 margin with one vacancy and the state House by a 68-32 margin with three independents and two vacancies.

As of November, 66 state legislative special elections have been scheduled for 2021 in 21 states. Between 2011 and 2020, an average of 75 special elections took place each year. Louisiana held 36 state legislative special elections from 2011 to 2020.

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