The U.S. Senate primary election is tomorrow. Andrew Greenstein has a preview.
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Now that we’re in the middle of the spring, now is the time to take steps to protect your home from termites, if you haven’t already done so. Andrew Greenstein explains why.
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The Louisiana Senate approves a new congressional map that has five majority white Republican districts and just one majority Black Democratic district. Jeff Palermo has the story.
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A U.S. Senate campaign that started in December of 2024 when John Fleming announced a primary challenge against Bill Cassidy reaches its first critical checkpoint tomorrow with the primary election. Several other hopefuls also threw their names in the ring; but when Julia Letlow entered the race after getting President Trump’s endorsement, that cleared the field except for the incumbent Cassidy and the original challenger Fleming. LSU political science professor Robert Hogan says tomorrow could be Cassidy’s last stand.
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If he does indeed finish third, his 12-year run in Washington will come to an end. Polling indicates a runoff is a near certainty; and Hogan says the mountain will be higher to climb for Cassidy in that next phase.
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There are three people vying for the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate – Jamie Davis, Nick Albares and Gary Crockett. There has been no polling data to indicate where the race stands currently. Statewide, more Democrats cast ballots in early voting than Republicans; Hogan says that doesn’t necessarily mean enthusiasm for any one of the three.
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Voters will see five constitutional amendments on the ballot tomorrow. Amendment Three has received the most attention. Barry Erwin with Leaders for a Better Louisiana says the amendment would abolish three large education trust funds and use the revenues of the funds to pay down teacher retirement debt.
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Constitutional Amendment One would allow the legislature to remove state government jobs from the civil service system and its protections without getting approval from the Civil Service Commission. Steven Procopio with the Public Affairs Council says supporters say the current civil service system is too rigid, with too many rules that make it difficult to find ways to improve government operations and efficiency.
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Amendment Two asks voters if they want to create the St. George Community School System. Erwin says the reason why the city of St. George formed in Baton Rouge was so that residents in that city can have its own school system.
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We’re well into spring; so if you haven’t taken proactive steps to protect your home from termites, now would be a very good time to do so. LSU AgCenter entomologist Aaron Ashbrook says Louisiana’s climate makes termite infestations more likely.
Ashbrook says your first line of defense is to take preventative measures.
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In addition to those preventative measures, Ashbrook says there are certain precautions you can take to reduce the risk of termites damaging your home, including turning off your lights.
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Ashbrook also recommends that you keep wood as far away from your home as possible, because the closer to your home that you store your wood, the less distance termites have to travel in order to start feasting on your home’s framing.
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The Louisiana Senate has approved a Congressional map that eliminates one of the two majority Black districts. Monroe Senator Jay Morris says under his proposal, the state’s congressional map will have five districts that will likely have Republican representation and one district likely represented by a Democrat.
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The state senate approved the map on a 27-10 party line vote. New Orleans Democrat Royce Duplessis says the map undoes all the progress that Blacks have made since the civil rights movement.
The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled Louisiana’s current congressional map is an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, because race was the primary factor in the drawing of the sixth district, represented by Democrat Cleo Fields.
Morris says the nation’s highest court says it’s okay to draw a map based on party politics and a 5-1 map is reflects Louisiana’s conservative values.
But Monroe Senator Katrina Jackson-Andrews says only a third of the state’s voters are registered Republican, so the map should have more diversity.
The new congressional map heads to the House, and the first debate in House Governmental Affairs is expected sometime next week.