Louisiana has 79 contested state legislative primaries this year, a 14% decrease from 2019. Louisiana holds top-two primaries, where 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 U.S. Supreme Court dismissed Louisiana Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin’s (R) appeal on June 26 of a federal district court ruling that held that Louisiana’s congressional district map should include an additional majority-minority district. The Supreme Court also lifted its 2022 stay of the federal court’s decision and allowed the case to proceed before…
In October, Louisiana voters will decide on a constitutional amendment that would provide in the state 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.” Under the amendment, a legal challenge brought against a state or a…
Nine candidates are running in the all-party primary in the open-seat election for governor of Louisiana on Oct. 14. Gov. John Bel Edwards (D)—who was first elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2019—is term-limited. Jeff Landry (R), Hunter Lundy (I), John Schroder (R), and Shawn Wilson (D) have the most campaign receipts and media attention.…
For the third consecutive election cycle, Republican state legislators in Louisiana have more term-limited members than Democrats. In 2023, Republicans have 16 term-limited lawmakers, whereas Democrats have six. Louisiana is the only state holding elections for a term-limited legislature in 2023. Out of the 144 seats up for election in the Louisiana State Legislature this…
The Louisiana State Legislature concluded its legislative session for 2023 on June 8. During this session, a total of seven constitutional amendments were passed, adding to the existing one that was referred to the 2023 ballot in the legislature’s 2022 session. Altogether, there will be eight amendments on the statewide ballot for 2023. Four amendments…
On May 30, 2023, the Louisiana State Legislature gave final approval to two constitutional amendments set to appear on the ballot on Oct. 14, 2023. One of the amendments, Senate Bill 63, would provide in the state constitution that “the freedom to worship in a church or other place of worship is a fundamental right…
The Louisiana House of Representatives on May 10 passed a bill that would index the length of unemployment insurance benefits to the state’s unemployment rate. House Bill 340 would reduce the maximum number of benefit weeks to 12 when the unemployment rate is at or below 5%. The bill also proposes capping the maximum benefit…
Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry (R) launched an investigation on April 25 into Climate Action 100+, which describes itself as “an investor-led initiative to ensure the world’s largest corporate greenhouse gas emitters take necessary action on climate change.” Landry’s office says the investigation seeks to determine whether some asset management companies that are part of…
A constitutional amendment was introduced in the Louisiana House of Representatives on April 3 that would prohibit funds from a foreign government or any nongovernmental source to be used to conduct elections. As of January 2023, 24 states had enacted legislation to prohibit private funding for election administration. According to NCSL, these laws were enacted…