Lost in the hustle and bustle of this year’s presidential ballot was the fact that Louisiana has one more round of elections (Dec. 7) before the end of the calendar year.
You’ll find four proposed constitutional amendments on that holiday season ballot, regarding the judicial and legislative branches, along with a handful of local propositions and an even smaller load of runoff elections.
There are roughly a dozen or so parishes with actual elections next month, so turnout will probably be on the low side, especially compared to the drama of this month’s presidential showdown.
To be sure, political influencers here seem more focused on the March 29 ballot, slated for the new year.
That future ballot has been much discussed lately, since it could play host to the constitutional changes being pushed by Gov. Jeff Landry during the ongoing tax-focused special session.
That session, however, adjourns Monday, and as of this writing just one week prior to that deadline, Landry and his allies were fighting hard—with no guarantee—to have just some, rather than all, of that reform package passed by both the House and Senate.
As a sidebar, there are a few nontax issues Landry wants to see escape from the special session involving natural resources, oil fields, property insurance, surplus dollars, speciality courts, juvenile offenders, certain judgeships and elected officials who serve in the legal profession.
A couple of those issues, if adopted legislatively in the coming days, may also appear on the March 2025 ballot.
“These are other issues that are consistent with the promises we made to the people of this state, such as improving insurance, working on our criminal justice system and expanding mental health and veterans’ courts,” the governor said of these priorities.
As for actual elections with living, breathing candidates, other high-profile races are expected for the March 2025 ballot, though not all have been officially called yet.
At the tippy-top of the spring ticket will be a contest to replace former Associate Justice James Genovese, who stepped down to become president of Northwestern State University.
Genovese got the NSU job thanks to backing from Landry, who is also thought to be supportive of the most prominent declared candidate to replace him.
That would be Cade Cole, a well-connected Lake Charles attorney and administrative law judge. He already has the endorsements of Attorney General Liz Murrill and some two dozen sheriffs and district attorneys in the region.
Voters also will seek replacements for state Sens. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge and Jean-Paul Coussan of Lafayette. Both won their latest races in the primary round, with Fields heading back to Congress in place of U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and Coussan replacing Commissioner Craig Greene on the Public Service Commission.
Officially, March 29 is a municipal primary election, which means there are more than 100 local races on tap. The biggest prize: mayor of Lake Charles.
Lake Charles Mayor Nic Hunter is running for reelection. At least one candidate, former city council member Marshall Simien Jr., who also ran for mayor in 2017, has announced plans to challenge Hunter.
Another race to watch will be in Bossier City. Incumbent Tommy Chandler, who knocked off four-term incumbent Lorenz Walker in 2021, is seeking reelection for the first time.
The other cities with mayoral elections in 2025 are Bastrop, DeRidder, Gretna, Jennings and Westwego. Towns that will select chief executives include Cheneyville, Killian, Sorrento, Springfield, Mangham and Many.
There will also be a race for district judge for the 21st Judicial District covering Livingston, St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes. Not to mention the numerous elections for village mayor, town and city councils, police chief, alderman, school board, constable and the like.
And of course, more special elections could be forthcoming. The deadline to submit special elections and propositions to the secretary of state is Jan. 2. Candidate qualifying will run from Jan. 29 through Jan. 31. Early voting will begin March 15 and end March 22.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
