You are not signed in as a Premium user; you are viewing the free version of this program. Premium users have access to full-length programs with limited commercials and receive a 10% discount in the store! Sign up for only one day for the low cost of $1.99. Click the button below.
DETROIT (ChurchMilitant.com) – The Louisiana state legislature is in special session and has passed two major election-related bills. The new congressional map and the bill changing the state’s primary system now go on to Republican Gov. Jeff Landry for his signature.
The agreed-upon congressional plan creates a new 6th District anchored in Baton Rouge that stretches through the 4th District, covered by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, virtually cutting it in half, to reach Shreveport.
This satisfies the court order to create a second Louisiana majority-minority seat (54% Black). According to Dave’s Redistricting App statisticians, President Biden would have carried the new 6th by a 59-39% majority.
Some experts believe, however, that because the new 6th District is so obviously drawn upon the race factor, it could be vulnerable to a future legal challenge.
A Florida state appellate court, in overturning a lower decision disqualifying the Sunshine State’s congressional map, ruled that the Constitution forbids drawing districts based upon certain demographic characteristics, such as race, even though courts are ordering legislatures to draw such plans in order to become compliant with the Voting Rights Act. The same inconsistency is now evident in Louisiana.
The big loser on this map is five-term Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge. He was an active opponent of Landry in the 2023 election and almost ran for governor himself. With one Republican having to be squeezed out, Graves was the obvious person to draw the short straw.
Graves is now paired with Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Start, in a new 5th District seat that stretches through the Mississippi border along the south and east and goes all the way to the Arkansas border on the north. The new 5th contains at least two-thirds of Letlow’s current constituency.
The partisan division will now award another seat to the Democrats, making the future Louisiana delegation five Republicans and two Democrats. Under the plan, Speaker Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Reps. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, and the winners of the new 5th and 6th congressional districts all get safe seats from a partisan perspective.
As part of the special session, the House and Senate sent a bill to Landry, one that he initiated, to change Louisiana’s primary voting structure from a top-two jungle system to one based upon partisanship. The changes would take effect in the 2026 election. A modified system would be instituted where registered members of the political party must vote in their own primary while nonaffiliated voters would have their choice of where to cast a ballot.
Only the political party nominees and qualified independents would advance to the general election.
Adopting the new system would mean, like in most other states, that only the political party nominees and qualified independents would advance to the general election. The legislation would affect all federal races, along with the state Supreme Court, the state school board, and the Public Service Commission. All other offices would continue with the current structure of sending the top two finishers, regardless of political party affiliation, to the general election. The presidential election already operates through a partisan nomination primary.
Landry wanted the primary change to affect all Louisiana offices, but the legislature did not want to go that far, particularly as it related to their own races.
United States Sen. John Kennedy, R-La., was active in the process and suggested creating a modified primary as opposed to the originally proposed strict closed option. He successfully argued that the almost 822,000 people who are registered in the nonaffiliated or “other parties” category would have the opportunity to vote in the primary of their choice. Otherwise, in a strict closed system, those voters would not be eligible to participate in the primary election. An aggregate total of just under 3 million people are currently registered to vote in the state.
Turning back to the 2024 election, the Louisiana partisan presidential primaries are scheduled for Saturday, March 23. The regular congressional jungle election will be held concurrently with the national vote on Nov. 5. If no candidate receives majority support in their respective campaigns, a postelection runoff is scheduled for Dec. 7.
DeSantis Suspends Campaign
Two days before the New Hampshire primary, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, once thought to be former President Donald Trump’s principal Republican challenger, announced that he is suspending his national campaign and that he’s endorsing the former president.
In his announcement, DeSantis left the national campaign, attacking both President Biden and fellow GOP challenger Nikki Haley. DeSantis said, “I look forward to working together with him [Trump] to beat Joe Biden, who is the worst and most corrupt president in the history of our country.”
Referring to Haley, DeSantis was quoted as saying, “I signed a pledge to support the nominee, and I will honor that pledge. He [Trump] has my endorsement because we can’t go back to the old Republican guard of yesteryear, a repackaged form of warmed-over corporatism that Nikki Haley represents.”
The GOP presidential fight now has two major contenders: Trump and Haley. Tomorrow’s New Hampshire primary may be close. Trump will easily win in Nevada on Feb. 6, and then the campaign heads to Haley’s home state of South Carolina on Feb. 24, where polling finds Trump holding a 2-1 lead. If such a margin holds, the Republican nomination will effectively be clinched before Super Tuesday on March 5.
Tight Special Election Race in New York
A newly released Emerson College survey sees a close special election race developing between Democratic former U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi and Republican Nassau County Legislator Mazi Melesa Pilip. The ballot test shows a 45-43% split in favor of Suozzi.
The best news for the former Democratic congressman is that the most likely voters within the sample break for him on a 51-37% split. While the majority white vote (58% of the district population) favors Pilip 49-40%, the largest minority group, Asians (24% of the district population), overwhelmingly favor Suozzi (60-25%). Hispanics (13% of the population) are moving toward Pilip at a 44-33% clip.
Possibly the most troubling news for Suozzi is Biden’s and Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul’s poor job approval ratings. Only one-third of voters, 33%, approve of Biden’s performance in office — 59% disapprove. Hochul’s numbers are even worse. Her approval index is 25% favorable and 66% unfavorable. The special election is scheduled for Feb. 13.
Jim Ellis, creator of The Ellis Insight website and senior political analyst for the Business-Industry Political Action Committee, analyzes and reports on U.S. electoral politics. He has a background in political consulting, managing political campaigns and action committees. Ellis is a regular speaker and media contributor on electoral topics, appearing on various radio shows and TV programs. He hosts Church Militant’s The Ellis Insight — a video podcast identifying emerging campaign and election trends.
Have a news tip? Submit news to our tip line.
We rely on you to support our news reporting. Please donate today.
