The process of redrawing Louisian’s could begin as soon as Wednesday after the invalidated the voting map and Gov. Jeff Landry put the brakes on that looming vote.
State senators say they have been holding feverish talks behind the scenes to devise a plan to address the ruling last week that Louisian’s House congressional map is because it relied too heavily on race when it was drawn. On Thursday, saying he would not allow ¶¶Òõh to vote on an illegal map, Landry declared an emergency that canceled the May 16 primary for the six U.S. House elections.
A key person in what happens next is state Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, R-Port Allen. He is both the chair of the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee — which is where the redistricting bills will likely start — and sponsor of one of those bills.
“I’m sure we’re going to have fireworks somewhere,†Kleinpeter said.
On Friday, Kleinpeter said he hopes his committee will take public testimony and pass a redistricting bill on Wednesday, but he acknowledged that that plan may be too ambitious. Lawmakers would face a tighter timetable if the committee has to wait a week but would likely still have enough time since the regular legislative session doesn’t end until June 1.
The decisions have thrown Louisian’s elections into disarray after absentee voting had already begun for the May 16 primary and just before a week of early voting began on Saturday.
These developments will mean new districts for Louisian’s congressional delegation — which currently has four Republicans and two Democrats — unless one of several lawsuits that have just been filed gum up those plans. Together, these events have also spawned confusion and lots of questions. Here are the best answers we have so far.
What does Landry’s executive order mean for Louisian’s House elections?
House Speaker Mike Johnson, Rep. Steve Scalise, Rep. Clay Higgins, Rep. Cleo Fields and Rep. Troy Carter are no longer running for reelection on May 16. The same goes for their challengers.
Landry’s move also voided the election for the 5th Congressional District seat that Rep. Julia Letlow is vacating to run for the Senate. That affects four Republicans running in that race: State Sen. Rick Edmonds of Baton Rouge, Rep. Michael Echols of Monroe, Sen. Blake Miguez of Erath and Misti Cordell of Monroe, who chairs the state Board of Regents. It also affects the lesser-known Democratic candidates.
Who will draw the new congressional map?
State legislators carry out the redistricting duties, and the governor will have a major say because he will have to approve their map. Lawmakers won’t need a special session to carry out that work. Four legislators filed redistricting bills to be heard in the regular legislative session currently underway, in case the Supreme Court rejected the existing congressional map in time.
The bills to watch are on the Senate side, legislators said. State Sen. Jay Morris, R-West Monroe, has three bills, while Kleinpeter, Sen. Ed Price, D-Gonzales, and state Rep. Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, have one each.
Under two of Morris’ bills, the Legislature would eliminate either Fields’ or Carter’s seat. Under his third bill, lawmakers would eliminate both majority-Black seats.
Kleinpeter described his bill as a “placeholder,†meaning he filed a bill just to have one that can be changed. Price’s bill would keep the current four-to-two partisan divide, meaning it stands little chance of passage in a Legislature with a Republican supermajority. Johnson’s bill would reimpose the previous congressional map with a 5-1 partisan split.
When will the Legislature begin to redraw the congressional map?
If the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee adopts a new map on Wednesday, the full Senate might vote on that measure on Thursday. That bill would then pass to the House and Governmental Affairs Committee.
Several factors could push back that schedule. Kleinpeter said he is not only giving extra consideration to the views of Speaker Johnson, Scalise and Higgins in the redesign but also to four state Senate colleagues who are considering running for the House: Edmonds; Sen. Thomas Pressley, R-Shreveport; Sen. Kirk Talbot, R-River Ridge; and Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe.
Edmonds is already campaigning for the 5th Congressional District seat. Pressly is eying a possible campaign for Speaker Johnson’s seat if Democrats win the House in November and Johnson then resigns. The same logic applies for Talbot with Scalise.
Cathey is looking at possibly running for the 5th Congressional District seat. Kleinpeter said he is asking the four senators to offer maps for their districts.
“I’m having to juggle a lot of different options,†he said.
Kleinpeter added he is not working with Miguez on a possible map. Miguez has angered his colleagues by running for the 5th Congressional District seat even though he lives no closer than 70 miles from the district.
What will happen to Rep. Cleo Fields and Rep. Troy Carter?
It seems likely that one or both of them will lose their job.
It’s possible that the Legislature will draw a map that pits them against each other. Then the question would be whether it is weighted toward Baton Rouge (to favor Fields) or New Orleans (to favor Carter).
Kleinpeter indicated that he would favor a Baton Rouge-centric district – if the new map retains one Black-majority seat – because of the post-Katrina population shift to the capital city. But Senate President Cameron Henry, a Republican who represents both Jefferson and Orleans parishes, may favor a New Orleans-centric district to give his home area a greater voice in Washington.
What is the new date for the congressional elections?
We don’t know that yet. But legislators indicate that it’s likely that they will return to the open primary system, meaning that candidates would qualify for the six House races in July or August and compete in a primary on Nov. 3. In any race where no one received at least 50% of the vote, the top two vote getters would compete in a runoff election in December.
What does Landry’s executive order mean for the other races on the May 16 ballot?
Those elections will still be held. Landry and Attorney General Liz Murrill say the Supreme Court ruling affected only the congressional elections, so the others will go forward as scheduled. The marquee election on the ballot pits U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy against state Treasurer John Fleming, Letlow and Mark Spencer, a business owner. Three candidates are competing in the Democratic primary: Gary Crockett, Nick Albares and Jamie Davis.
Two Republicans – Judge Blair Edwards and Judge Billy Burris – are facing off for a ¶¶Òõh Supreme Court seat that covers the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. Two Democrats and two Republicans are running for the Public Service Commission seat held by term-limited Foster Campbell in a district that includes 24 parishes in north ¶¶Òõh. Five Republicans are running for the Public Service Commission seat held by term-limited Eric Skrmetta in a district that covers suburban New Orleans. Two Republicans are challenging Joseph Cao for his seat on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education.
As scheduled, voters will also decide whether to approve the five constitutional amendments.
Why are some conservatives upset with Landry and Murrill?
Talk show host Moon Griffon is among the loudest conservative voices blaming Landry and Murrill for the election confusion, because the two insisted that legislators redistrict the House seats in 2024 and create the district that Fields won at the expense of then-U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, a Republican.
“The state was never required to draw new congressional maps in the first place, and the map that was drawn looked like children with crayons had been given the assignment,†Graves posted on social media Wednesday.
Landry and Murrill said in 2024 that the Legislature had to draw the new congressional map because U.S. District Court Judge Shelly Dick was poised to do so. Political insiders said Landry targeted Graves because he supported a rival of Landry’s during the governor’s race.
What does the new election schedule mean for Graves?
Graves represented the Baton Rouge-based 6th Congressional District for 10 years until Landry and state legislators redrew the boundary lines in 2024 and gave him an unwinnable district. He didn’t run for reelection as a result.
If legislators draw him a more favorable district now, he would be the best-known candidate, and he’d have the most money, with $3.6 million leftover in his campaign account.
For now, Graves is trolling Landry and Murrill on social media for pushing the map redesign two years ago that cost him his district – and that the Supreme Court has now overturned. Graves said they need better lawyers and suggested they contact billboard trial lawyer Morris Bart.