Louisiana
Welcome to the Louisiana state page! Here, Louisiana organizers can access and document ongoing projects, current leadership positions, upcoming races, and other important information. This list is non-exhaustive, and state teams are encouraged to expand and adapt these pages to their organizing needs.
Political Landscape of Louisiana
Partisan Composition of Louisiana
Overall, Louisiana is considered a deep red state, with a Cook PVI of R+12 as of 2022, regularly voting 55-65% Republican in statewide races. Their governor, both US Senators, 5 (though soon to be 4 pending redistricting) out of 6 of their US House representatives are Republican. Republicans also have supermajorities in their state house (71-33-1) and state senate (27-12), giving them a veto-proof supermajority trifecta as of 2/8/24.
Progressive Outlook for Louisiana
The overall progressive strategy for Louisiana is troubled. The state has consistently voted Republican for a long time and doesn't allow for ballot measures, though Democrats recently scored a win by gaining a second blue US House district. Electing a progressive to this open house district, as well as the one with Baton Rouge, should be a key priority for progressives in Louisiana in 2024. Aside from that, the goal should be harm reduction and forming a strong opposition while waiting for federal help. Louisiana uses a unique "Jungle primary" system where a candidate can win outright in a primary if they have a majority (think a crude form of ranked-choice voting), so forcing Republicans into an expensive runoff is a way to deprive them of resources as well. In what few blue seats there are on a state level, it is possible for progressive third party or independent candidates to make headway as well without as many worries of the spoiler effect, so this is important to keep in mind as well.
Get Involved
Register to Vote in Louisiana
Progressive Organizations in Louisiana
Below is a list of progressive organizations in Louisiana. If you see a state organization that isn't on this list, please add it.
- Louisiana Democrats: As Louisiana is a deep red state, the state's Democratic party is most likely your best bet for progressive/liberal organizing.
Notable Campaigns in 2024
Below is a list of progressive candidates or ballot measures in the 2024 election cycle for Louisiana. Non-progressive candidates may also be placed here if they are substantially to the left of their district's partisan lean and worth campaigning for. If you see a candidate or ballot measure that should be on this list, please add them
November 5th Jungle Primary Elections (Filing Deadline July 19th)
Due to Louisiana election law, if no candidate gets over 50% of the vote in the primary, the two candidates who earned the most votes will go to a runoff election. As such this is one of the few states where more than just D or R candidates are at least theoretically viable.
- US House LA-6: Due to redistricting, LA-6 will be a Safe Democrat seat for the 2024 election cycle. Cleo Fields seems to be the party choice, but it's absolutely worth looking into for who may be the most progressive candidate.
December 5th Runoff Elections - Pending results on November 5th
In Louisiana, when no candidate has a majority on November 5th, the two candidates who got the most votes will go to a December 5th runoff. These races can be placed here.
Run for Local Office
An underrated way to impact change is to run for a local position! Please feel free to add information on doing so below.