Louisiana voters who want to cast a ballot in the Dec. 12 Louisiana runoff elections have until Saturday, Nov. 21, to register online, after the deadline to register in person or by mail passed on Thursday, Nov. 12, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s 2026 elections calendar.
The Louisiana runoff will settle two U.S. House seats and several local offices that no candidate won outright on Nov. 3. Under Louisiana’s system, all candidates for an office run on the same ballot, and a candidate needs more than 50 percent of the vote to win. When no one clears that mark, the top two finishers meet in a runoff.
The biggest race on the Dec. 12 ballot is in the 6th Congressional District, where Democrat Chauna Banks, a former East Baton Rouge Metro Council member, faces Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez. The two finished nearly tied out of a field of 10 candidates, with Banks at 50,878 votes and Miguez at 50,213 votes, about 19 percent each, according to Louisiana Secretary of State results reported by WAFB.
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The 6th District seat is open because Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields chose not to seek reelection after lawmakers redrew the district and is running for the state Senate instead. On April 29, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the congressional map Louisiana adopted in 2024 was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. Gerrymandering means drawing district lines to favor a group or party, and a racial gerrymander is one where race was the main factor in drawing the lines. That 2024 map had created a second majority Black district stretching from Baton Rouge toward Shreveport. The Legislature approved a replacement map in May 2026, and the new 6th District is centered on Baton Rouge and reaches into surrounding communities and parts of the River Parishes.
In the 5th Congressional District, Democrat Pat Moore faces Republican Gabe Firment. Each received about 17 percent of the vote in the first round, according to WDSU.
The Louisiana runoff ballot also includes local races. In St. Tammany Parish, Daniel Seuzeneau and Robert Hodges are in a runoff for sheriff. In Plaquemines Parish, Keith Hinkley and Republican Benny Rousselle are in a runoff for parish president. In Bogalusa, Mayor Tyrin Truong faces Michael Corey O’Ree, who has no party affiliation. Voters should check their own sample ballot, since other local contests may appear depending on where they live.
Some races are already settled. WDSU reported that Republican Julia Letlow was projected to win the U.S. Senate race with 50.9 percent, enough to avoid a runoff, and that Steve Scalise, Troy Carter and Clay Higgins won their House races outright. Voters also approved seven of the 10 proposed amendments to the state constitution on Nov. 3, including term limits for governors and money for replacing lead drinking water pipes, and rejected three, according to WDSU.
Here are the key dates for the Louisiana runoff from the Secretary of State’s calendar. Online registration through the GeauxVote system closes Nov. 21. Early voting runs from Saturday, Nov. 28, through Saturday, Dec. 5. The deadline to request a mail ballot is Tuesday, Dec. 8, and the parish registrar of voters must receive a completed mail ballot by Friday, Dec. 11. Election Day is Saturday, Dec. 12.
Voters can check their registration, find their polling place and view a sample ballot through the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office or its GeauxVote system, and they can contact their parish registrar of voters with questions. The winners of the two House runoffs will be sworn into the new Congress in January 2027.
