Welcome to the Tuesday, October 17, Brew.
By: Samuel Wonacott
Here’s what’s in store for you as you start your day:
- Louisiana will have a Republican trifecta in January
- Top-polling Democratic presidential primary candidates’ logos and slogans
- 40 states and D.C. have confirmed both their 2024 statewide and presidential primaries
Louisiana will have a Republican trifecta in January
Last Friday, we gave you a preview of Louisiana’s Oct. 14—Saturday!—statewide primaries. Now that the dust has settled, let’s look at some election results.
As a reminder, Louisiana’s voting system differs from other states. Louisiana uses the majority-vote system. All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, run in the same primary. A candidate who wins more than 50% of the vote wins the election outright. If no candidate crosses that mark, the top two vote-getters advance to the Nov. 18 general election.
Governor
The biggest Election Day story is that Jeff Landry, the state’s Republican attorney general, won the gubernatorial election outright with 51.6% of the vote. That guarantees that Louisiana will have a Republican trifecta when he is sworn into office as the state’s 57th governor in early 2024.
Democrat Shawn Wilson came in second with 25.9% of the vote.
Republicans control the House and the Senate, and are guaranteed a simple majority in both chambers after elections this year because 57% of races have a Republican candidate but no Democrat.
Louisiana’s current governor is John Bel Edwards (D), who first won election in 2015, ending a previous Republican trifecta.
The last time a non-incumbent won the gubernatorial election outright was in 2007, when Bobby Jindal (R) received 54% of the primary vote.
Landry was first elected attorney general in 2015. Before that, he served in the U.S. House from 2011 to 2013 and worked in law enforcement and oil and gas exploration. Former President Donald Trump (R) endorsed Landry. He said his top priority was reducing crime.
From 1877 to 1980, every Louisiana governor was a Democrat. From 1980 to 2022, Louisiana alternated between Democratic and Republican governors with Republicans holding the office for 24 years and Democrats for 20 years. From 1976 to 2020, the Republican candidate won Louisiana nine times and the Democratic candidate won twice. Trump (R) carried the state in the 2020 presidential election over Joe Biden (D), 59% to 40%.
Louisiana is one of three states holding gubernatorial elections this year, along with Kentucky and Mississippi.
If nothing changes on Nov. 7 with the other states holding state legislative and/or gubernatorial elections, then in January Louisiana will become the 23rd Republican trifecta.
Other state executive offices
Louisiana voters also decided primaries for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and forestry, commissioner of insurance, and all eight seats on the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
- In the race for lieutenant governor, incumbent Billy (R) Nungesser won the primary outright with 66.1% of the vote.
- In the race for attorney general, Republican Liz Murrill and Democrat Lindsey Cheek advanced to the Nov. 18 general election. Murrill received 46% of the vote to Cheek’s 22.5%. John Stefanski (R) came in third with 17% of the vote.
Ballot measures
Voters decided four statewide ballot measures on Oct. 14—and approved all of them.
- Amendment 1: Voters approved this measure 73% to 27%. It prohibits state and local governments from using funds, goods, and services donated by foreign governments or nongovernmental (private) sources to conduct elections. We covered this measure in-depth in The Brew last week, and you can find that story here. Louisiana is now the 28th state banning or restricting the use of private donations for election administration. Click here to see our page on the laws governing the private funding of elections.
- Amendment 2: Voters approved this measure 79% to 21%. It the Louisiana Constitution that “the freedom to worship in a church or other place of worship is a fundamental right that is worthy of the highest order of protection.”
- Amendment 3: Voters approved this measure 56% to 44%. It requires a minimum of 25% of nonrecurring state revenue to be applied to the balance of the unfunded liability of the state retirement system.
- Amendment 4: Voters approved this measure 66% to 34%. It prohibits a nonprofit organization from receiving a property tax exemption when residential property is in disrepair and dangerous to the public’s health or safety.
Voters in Louisiana will decide four more statewide measures on Nov. 18. Stay tuned for more information on those.
Click the link below to read more about Louisiana’s elections, including state legislative primary results.
Top-polling Democratic presidential primary candidates’ logos and slogans
Yesterday, we looked at the top-polling Republican presidential primary candidates’ logos and slogans in the 2024 race, as well as in 2020 and 2016. Today, let’s do the same with the Democratic presidential campaigns.
In the 2024 race to the White House, we’ve identified two noteworthy Democratic presidential primary candidates—President Joe Biden and Marianne Williamson. On Oct. 9, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. withdrew from the Democratic primary and announced he would run as an independent.
At this point in 2020, RealClearPolitics’ polling average had Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Pete Buttigieg, and Kamala Harris at the top of the polls. Here’s a look at their logos and slogans:
At this point in the 2016 primary cycle, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders topped the polls.
To view the campaign logos and slogans for all presidential candidates in 2024, click here. For all 2020 campaign logos and slogans, click here. To read more about the 2024 Presidential election, click the link below.
40 states and D.C. have confirmed both their 2024 statewide and presidential primaries
With the 2024 election season just around the corner, we’re bringing you regular updates on which states have—and have not—scheduled their primaries. We last looked at 2024 dates and deadlines in the Oct. 13 edition of this newsletter.
In early October, we found that 37 states had confirmed both their 2024 statewide and presidential primaries. As of Oct. 13, 40 states have confirmed both dates.
Some of the changes we’ve tracked since Oct. 13 include Guam confirming its Democratic presidential caucus date (June 8, 2024) and New York confirming its presidential primary for April 2, 2024 (with a filing deadline of Jan. 18, 2024).
Forty-one states, Guam, and the District of Columbia have confirmed the dates for their 2024 statewide primaries through the release of an official election calendar, enacted legislation, or candidate filing instructions. Separately, 45 states, three U.S. territories, and the District of Columbia have confirmed the date for at least one of their presidential nominating contests.
Some states schedule their presidential primaries at the same time as statewide primaries for other offices, while other states hold elections on separate dates.
So far, 16 states and D.C. have confirmed their statewide and presidential primaries and scheduled both for the same date.
Iowa has confirmed the earliest presidential nominating contest, with Republicans in the state holding presidential caucuses on Jan. 15. South Carolina’s Democratic Party has confirmed the earliest presidential preference primary on Feb. 3.
Alabama, Arkansas, California, North Carolina, and Texas will all share the earliest 2024 statewide primary date, which is March 5 (Super Tuesday!).
The following U.S. states and territories have not announced their presidential primary dates:
Candidates must meet a variety of state-specific filing requirements and deadlines to run. These regulations, known as ballot access laws, may include collecting petition signatures, paying filing fees, or both.
Filing deadlines for major party and unaffiliated statewide candidates in 2024 will occur between November 2023 and September 2024, with Alabama on Nov. 10 and both Delaware and North Dakota on Sep. 3. Filing deadlines for major party and unaffiliated presidential candidates in 2024 will occur between October 2023 and September 2024 with Nevada on Oct. 16 and Kentucky on Sep. 6.
Click below to read more about 2024 election dates.