This year, Louisiana and two other states — Alabama and Tennessee — reopened their filing deadlines for primary elections for the U.S. House of Representatives after the initial deadline passed. Each state reopened its filing deadline after passing new congressional maps ahead of this year's elections. Here's how this move affected primaries in Louisiana.

The filing deadline was initially Feb. 13, 2026. However, the filing deadline for all U.S. House districts was reopened until Aug. 7, 2026.

This year was set to be the first in which Democratic and Republican candidates in the state ran in separate U.S. House primaries scheduled for May 16, 2026. Additionally, if no candidate received more than 50% of the votes cast, the top two candidates would have advanced to primary runoffs on June 27, 2026.

However, Louisiana will instead use the system it used from 2014 through 2024, in which all candidates run against each other on the same ballot. A candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast for an office wins outright. If no candidate reaches that threshold, a second round of voting will happen between the top two vote-getters.

On Jan. 31, 2024, a group of voters filed a lawsuit arguing that the 2024 congressional map containing a second majority-Black district was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. On April 30, 2024, a federal district court agreed and enjoined the map's use in future elections. The state drew the 2024 map after a federal district court struck down a 2022 version containing one majority-Black district as a likely violation of Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act.

On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled Louisiana's 2024 map an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. As a result, Louisiana will use the 2022 map in the 2026 elections.

Before Louisiana's filing deadline reopened, 32 candidates — 15 Democrats and 17 Republicans — filed to run for Louisiana's six congressional districts. That's 5.3 candidates per district.

After the deadline reopened, the number of candidates increased to 39 — tying with 2016 for the most candidates running for the U.S. House since 2014. Among those candidates are 14 Democrats, 20 Republicans, and five minor-party or independent candidates.

The number of candidates before the filing deadline reopened reflects only Democratic and Republican candidates since the state was using partisan primaries at the time. The number of candidates after the filing deadline reopened accounts for candidates of all parties since all candidates are running on the same ballot.

There were four candidates per district in 2024, 3.7 in 2022, five in 2020, 4.7 in 2018, 6.5 in 2016, and 5.8 in 2014.

The number of open districts also increased from one to two. Rep. Julia Letlow (R-5th) announced before the deadline reopened that she would retire to run for the U.S. Senate. Rep. Cleo Fields (D-6th) announced he would retire to run for a seat in the Louisiana Legislature after the filing deadline reopened.

There was one open district in 2024, none in 2022, one in 2020, none in 2018, two in 2016, and one in 2014.

The number of incumbents running in contested primaries also increased from three — one Democrat and two Republicans — to four. Among those incumbents are one Democrat and three Republicans.

There were four incumbents in a contested primary in 2024, four in 2022, five in 2020, six in 2018, three in 2016, and three in 2014.

The total number of contested primaries decreased from nine — five Democratic and four Republican — to six. One factor driving this change is that since all candidates are running on the same ballot, there will be six possible primaries instead of 12.

In total, there were five contested primaries in 2024, four in 2022, six in 2020, six in 2018, five in 2016, and five in 2014.

Before the deadline reopened, the 5th Congressional District attracted the most candidates. Twelve candidates — five Democrats and seven Republicans — initially filed to run for the district. After the filing deadline reopened, nine candidates — three Democrats and six Republicans — filed to run.

Due to a decrease in candidacies in the 5th Congressional District and an increase in the 6th Congressional District, the latter ultimately attracted the most candidates.

Before the filing deadline reopened, five candidates — one Democrat and four Republicans — filed to run for the 6th Congressional District. After the deadline reopened, 10 candidates — three Democrats, six Republicans, and one Libertarian — filed to run.

Initially, the 2nd Congressional District was guaranteed to Democrats because no Republicans filed to run for the district. After the deadline reopened, one Republican filed to run in the district. As a result, no districts are guaranteed to either party since Democrats and Republicans filed to run in all six districts.

Louisiana is holding U.S. House primaries on Nov. 3, 2026. If needed, a second round of voting is scheduled for Dec. 12, 2026.