A worker pulls VOTE HERE signs from the storage unit to be added to the lot as voting machines are sorted for delivery from the BR storage warehouse for the Tuesday national and local general elections Monday November 2, 2020, in Baton Rouge, La.
STAFF PHOTO BY BILL FEIG
Voters will conclude Louisian’s new primary elections Saturday by choosing between two Republicans and two Democrats in the U.S. Senate party runoff elections.
U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow has been the heavy favorite to win the Republican Senate nomination, but treasurer John Fleming has closed most, if not all, of the gap.
Farmer Jamie Davis and business owner Gary Crockett are vying in a separate primary for the Democratic Party Senate nomination.
The winners of each runoff on Saturday will advance to a general election on Nov. 3. Whoever emerges victorious in that election will replace U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, who was ousted in the May 16 Republican primary.
Polling stations on Saturday will be open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Also on the ballot are races for open seats on the Public Service Commission and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education — and 115 local measures, most involving taxes.
State Rep. Stephanie Hilfery, R-New Orleans, and former Jefferson Parish President John Young, a Republican, are facing off for the PSC seat that Eric Skrmetta is vacating because of term limits. The Legislature drew boundaries designed to elect a Republican.
The PSC regulates the power grid and other utilities. The district includes portions of Jefferson, Livingston, Orleans and St. Charles parishes and all of Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Helena, St. Tammany, Tangipahoa and Washington parishes.
The winner of the GOP primary runoff will advance to the Nov. 3 election and face Democrat Connie Norris of Slidell and Chris Justin, a no-party candidate.
Joseph Cao and Ellie Schroder are competing for the BESE seat that Cao holds, having been appointed to the position by Gov. Jeff Landry. BESE sets policy for K-12 education in h.
Cao, an attorney in Metairie, served a term in the U.S. House from New Orleans, while Schroder spent years as a teacher and administrator before pivoting to become a real estate developer. She lives in St. Tammany Parish. The district includes St. Tammany Parish and parts of Orleans, Jefferson and Tangipahoa parishes.
A new primary system
The elections for the Senate, the PSC and BESE will settle party contests first held on May 16 under a new election schedule, for certain offices, that the Legislature adopted in 2024 at Landry’s behest.
Under the new system, no-party voters can vote in either party’s primary — unless they voted in the May 16 primary. Then they have to vote on Saturday in the same primary as last month.
Many voters and polling commissioners reported on May 16 that the new election system caused confusion.
Voters appear to be either skeptical or apathetic. Analysts are projecting a 15% overall turnout, down from a 28% turnout on May 16.
That day, voters rejected all five constitutional amendments put on the ballot by the Legislature. Landry supported three of them, including a complicated financial maneuver to give teachers a pay raise.
Voters also rejected 68% of the 97 tax measures on the ballot among the 64 parishes. Voters had never opposed more than 50% of the tax measures during an election, said Guy Cormier, state director of the Police Jury Association of h.
Cormier said an analysis by the association indicated that the rejection of the constitutional amendments carried over to the local tax measures.
To find your polling place on Saturday, what is on your specific ballot and other information, go to the Secretary of State’s voter portal at and enter your name, ZIP code and birthday. Anyone with questions on election day can call (800) 883-2805.