Republicans in the Louisiana legislature approved a new congressional map ahead of the midterm elections that is expected to give the GOP an additional advantage in the battle for control of the U.S. House. The map eliminates one of Louisiana’s two majority-Black congressional districts following a U.S. Supreme Court ruling …
Read More »Bill Cassidy Ousted in Louisiana GOP Primary as Trump-Backed Republicans Advance to Runoff
U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy was defeated Saturday in Louisiana’s Republican Senate primary, marking a major political victory for President Donald Trump and the state’s pro-Trump GOP establishment after years of backlash over Cassidy’s impeachment vote against Trump. Republican voters instead propelled Julia Letlow and John Fleming into a June 27 …
Read More »42,000 Louisianians Voted Absentee Before Gov. Landry Suspended US House Primaries
The Louisiana Secretary of State received more than 42,000 absentee ballots from voters for the May 16 election by the time Gov. Jeff Landry suspended primaries last week for the state’s six U.S. House races, according to records officials provided Monday. The numbers are taking on added significance after the …
Read More »Louisiana to Delay Primary after Supreme Court Ruling
Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry plans to delay the state’s May 16 congressional primary to give lawmakers time to redraw district lines after the Supreme Court of the United States struck down the current map, according to two people familiar with the decision. Landry, a Republican, informed GOP members of Congress …
Read More »Supreme Court Ruling Guts Key Voting Rights Act Protections, Threatens Minority Voting Power
The Supreme Court of the United States on Wednesday issued a sweeping decision that critics say guts core protections of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, ruling that Louisiana’s congressional map was an unconstitutional racial gerrymander — even though it was drawn to comply with the landmark civil rights law. …
Read More »5th Circuit Upholds Louisiana Law Requiring Ten Commandments Displays in Classrooms
A federal appellate court has cleared the way for displays of the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana public school classroom, removing an order that stopped state officials from enforcing a law that requires them. In a decision issued Friday from its full roster of 18 judges, the U.S. 5th Circuit …
Read More »Louisiana Democrat wins State House Special Election in Trump-won District
Louisiana Democrat Chasity Verret Martinez won a decisive victory Saturday in a special election for a state House seat in a district President Donald Trump carried by double digits in 2024, delivering another warning sign for Republicans amid a string of Democratic overperformances in special elections. Martinez defeated Republican Brad …
Read More »Supreme Court Revisits Voting Rights Act in Louisiana Redistricting Case
More than a decade after the Supreme Court gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act and just two years after it declined to unravel another, the high court on Wednesday will hear a consequential challenge to Louisiana’s congressional map that could further weaken the law’s protections for minority …
Read More »Louisiana Asks Supreme Court to Strike Down Voting Rights Act’s Core Provision
Louisiana is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn a decades-old precedent that has safeguarded minority voting rights, urging the justices to strike down the central provision of the Voting Rights Act and ban any use of race in redistricting. In a legal brief filed Wednesday, Republican Attorney General Liz …
Read More »The House Speaker’s Eyeing Big Cuts to Medicaid. In His Louisiana District, It’s a Lifeline.
When Desoto Regional Health System took out $36 million in loans last year to renovate a rural hospital that opened in 1952, officials were banking on its main funding source remaining stable: Medicaid, the joint federal-state health program for low-income people and the disabled. But those dollars are now in …
Read More »Federal Judge Halts Louisiana Law Requiring Ten Commandment Classroom Displays
Greg LaRose, Louisiana Illuminator A Louisiana law that will require schools to place displays of the Ten Commandments in every classroom is “coercive” and “unconstitutional,” according to the federal judge who issued an order Tuesday that stops the law taking effect Jan. 1. Nine families have sued the state, arguing …
Read More »Louisiana Families Sue Over Law Requiring Ten Commandments in Schools
Jimmy Williams Nine Louisiana families have filed a federal lawsuit against the state’s education department and local school boards, challenging a new law that mandates the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms. The lawsuit was filed just days after Governor Jeff Landry signed the controversial bill into …
Read More »Louisiana Will Face Lawsuit Over Ten Commandments School Displays
Greg LaRose, Louisiana Illuminator Four civil liberties groups will sue the state of Louisiana after Republican Gov. Jeff Landry signed a law Wednesday that calls for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in school classrooms. The new rule applies to any school that accepts state money, including colleges and universities. …
Read More »Louisiana Declares Abortion Drugs ‘dangerous substances’ To Add Harsher Penalties
Greg LaRose, Louisiana Illuminator The Louisiana Legislature gave final approval Thursday to a bill that would label two drugs used to induce labor and treat miscarriages as “controlled dangerous substances,” despite opposition from a broad group of medical professionals. The proposal from state Sen. Thomas Pressly, a Shreveport Republican, targets …
Read More »Louisiana Sues Biden Administration Over Title IX Rules That Protect LGBTQ+ Students
Piper Hutchinson, Louisiana Illuminator Louisiana’s Republican attorney general announced Monday the state is suing the Biden administration over new Title IX rules that aim to protect LGBTQ+ students. The updates to the federal law that forbids sex-based discrimination in education have been expanded to include gender identity and sexual orientation. …
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