A New Orleans-area lawmaker’s effort to prevent a governor from serving more than two consecutive terms continues to make its way through the legislative process. Jeff Palermo has the story.
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The general election in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race is going to be a Republican blowout, right? One prominent Democratic strategist says, not so fast. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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The House Governmental Affairs Committee begins debate this morning on the proposed congressional map that eliminates one of the state’s two majority Black districts. Joe Gallinaro has the story.
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The House-approved constitutional amendment that prohibits a governor from serving more than two consecutive terms is headed to the Senate floor. The Senate Governmental Affairs committee approved the measure on a party-line five to three vote, with Democrats voting against it. New Orleans Democratic Senator Royce Duplessis is not 100-percent behind term limits.
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There are Democrats concerned this legislation is aimed at John Bel Edwards, even though it would also apply to Republican Bobby Jindal. If it passes, neither would be allowed to run for governor again.
Chalmette Representative Michael Bayham says he authored the legislation in response to what happened with two governors who in the last 100 years served more than two terms, Earl K. Long and Edwin Edwards.
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Under current law, governors may not serve more than two consecutive terms, but they can run for a third non-consecutive term after sitting out four years. Bayham likes new leaders and fresh ideas occupying the governor’s mansion.
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Bayham says nine other states have similar term limits. If the measure passes the Senate with a two-thirds vote, the proposed amendment will be placed on the November 3rd ballot.
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Political analysts almost unanimously believe that whoever wins the Republican Senate runoff between Julia Letlow and John Fleming will trounce the Democratic nominee. Democratic political strategist James Carville, however, says not so fast – while he says the Democratic nominee likely will not win, the margin will be a lot closer than what’s expected, possibly in the single digits. Carville says for starters, Black voters turned out in droves for the primary.
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Carville says Democrats had a very strong turnout in the primary, despite Democrats being greatly outspent.
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Carville says if the Democratic nominee can make it interesting, that could set the party up for success in the future – possibly as early as next year in the governor’s race, as Jeff Landry seeks re-election – assuming he survives the recall effort against him.
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Bill Cassidy may have lost his bid for re-election, but he’s by no means packing it in. He still has plenty of things on his to-do list in his seven months remaining in the U.S. Senate. For starters, Cassidy wants to fix Social Security.
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Cassidy, who’s a medical doctor by trade, is also working on health care legislation in the time he has left.
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Cassidy is also working on a bill aimed at holding China accountable for polluting the United States.
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Cassidy says other legislation that he wanted to get to, including a plan to rebuild the coastline in a way that pays for itself and flood insurance reform, will have to be passed off to another Senator in the next Congress.
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Debate on a congressional map that reduces the number of majority Black districts from two to one shifts over to the House today as the Governmental Affairs committee discusses the Senate-approved map. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Democrats do not have enough votes to stop the so-called 5-1 map from passing.
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Current Democratic Congressman Cleo Fields is expected to lose his seat if this new map becomes law.
Pinsonat expects a lengthy hearing, with dozens of people expected to testify in opposition of the map that would likely result in five Republicans and one Democrat in Louisiana’s House delegation starting in 2027.
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Racial tensions have been high at the state capitol ever since the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the current map with two majority Black districts, and Republicans began pushing a new map with one Black majority district. Pinsonat expects emotional testimony and possible outbursts that would result in the meeting being paused until emotions subside.
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McNeese baseball is two wins away from reaching the NCAA Tournament for a seventh time in program history as the Cowboys begin a best-of-three Southland Conference championship series against Lamar tonight in Beaumont. The Cowboys are the fifth seed and are led by longtime coach Justin Hill, who’s excited for a shot at beating Lamar and advancing.
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Pitching is the name of the game in postseason play. Hill says the Cowboys have one of the better pitchers in the Southland in Eric Nachtsheim.
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Lamar is McNeese’s biggest rival, and Hill says it’s fun to match up with the Cardinals in a high-stakes series.
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Lamar took two of three from McNeese earlier this season. First pitch tonight is at six.