State election year kicks off with Saturday’s special elections
February 22, 2019By David Jacobs | Watchdog.org
Cole Lauterbach | Illinois News Network
Voters in 13 Louisiana parishes will go to the polls Saturday to fill open seats in the legislature, kicking off an election year that could end with significant turnover throughout state government.
Primary elections are being held Saturday for state representative seats in districts 12, 17, 18, 26, 27, 47, and 62. Those districts cover all or part of Calcasieu, Cameron, East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Iberville, Lincoln, Ouachita, Pointe Coupee, Rapides, Union, Vermilion, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes.
A candidate who gets more than half of the votes will win the seat outright. If no one wins a majority, the top two vote-getters will advance to a runoff election in March. Special election winners who want to stick around will have to run for a full term in the fall.
Polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 8 p.m. Voter information, such as sample ballots and poll locations, can be found at the Louisiana Secretary of State’s website or on the Geaux Vote mobile app.
This fall brings elections for every level of state government. Gov. John Bel Edwards will attract national attention as he tries to remain the only Democratic governor in the Deep South. To date, two Republicans – U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone – are challenging Edwards.
Elections also will be held for lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner and treasurer.
This year brings the second wave of forced departures from legislative seats since term limits were enacted in 1995. However, some term-limited House members likely will seek state Senate seats, and vice versa.
Saturday’s seven special elections are indicative of a high rate of voluntary turnover, with 15 percent of lawmakers leaving their elected positions without completing their terms in the last three years, according to a published analysis.
