Louisiana primaries – Louisiana voters head to a revamped, party-separated primary Saturday, deciding races including embattled Sen. Bill Cassidy and five constitutional amendments amid fallout from Trump’s impeachment fight and a new primary system.
Louisiana’s primary election Saturday carries high political stakes inside the Republican Party, with voters deciding whether Sen. Bill Cassidy can survive a Trump-linked challenge that centers on a past vote at the height of the party’s impeachment fight.
Cassidy is seeking a third term, but he faces a crowded Republican primary that includes state Treasurer John Fleming and U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who was endorsed by President Donald Trump in January.
For Trump, the contest is another opportunity to punish what he views as disloyalty within the GOP.. Cassidy has been on that list since he voted more than five years ago to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial following the Jan.. 6, 2021, insurrection by Trump supporters at the U.S.. Capitol.. Trump was later acquitted.
Democrats, meanwhile, are not targeting Louisiana as part of their effort to retake the U.S. Senate. But a Cassidy loss in the Republican primary would likely leave the Senate GOP caucus even more tightly aligned behind Trump and would further underscore the president’s influence within the party.
Beyond the Senate fight, Louisiana voters also will weigh contests for the state Supreme Court, the Public Service Commission and the state school board, along with five proposed state constitutional amendments.
The ballot includes a major complication for Louisiana’s U.S.. House races.. Those primaries were postponed after the U.S.. Supreme Court struck down the state’s congressional map, which includes a majority-Black district that favors Democrats.. House races will still appear on ballots, but any votes cast in those contests will not be counted.
This Saturday’s election also reflects a significant change from previous Louisiana primaries.. For certain offices. candidates are running in separate party primaries rather than under a single “jungle primary” format where all contenders appear on the same ballot.. State lawmakers adopted the new system in 2024, but the law was not set to take effect until 2026.
U.S.. House races were originally expected to follow the new primary model under the 2024 law.. Instead, on Thursday, state Republicans adopted legislation to reinstate the jungle primary for U.S.. House races, citing a compressed schedule after the Supreme Court decision.. The jungle primary for the U.S.. House will be held on Nov.. 3 alongside the general election.
Louisiana’s voting patterns have often shaped Republican momentum region by region.. East Baton Rouge Parish. home to Baton Rouge. and Jefferson and Orleans Parishes around New Orleans are among the state’s most populous areas. but St.. Tammany Parish, north of New Orleans along the Mississippi border, delivered the most votes in the 2016 and 2024 Republican presidential primaries.
Caddo Parish in the northwest, home to Shreveport, and Lafayette Parish have also tended to play a larger role in Republican primaries than in Democratic ones.
In 2016. Trump won a narrow four-way Louisiana primary. driven in part by a large margin in Jefferson Parish and despite losses in East Baton Rouge and Caddo Parishes as he overcame Texas U.S.. Sen.. Ted Cruz.. Eight years later. Trump swept the state in the 2024 primary against former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley; Haley had dropped out of the race before the primary but was still posting stronger-than-expected showings in other states.
Cassidy’s prior victories in 2014 and 2020 came under the older primary system, in which his main opposition on the ballot came from Democrats.
As votes are tallied, AP coverage will focus on election mechanics and timing for a state using the new party-separated structure.
Polls close at 8 p.m. local time (CT), or 9 p.m. ET.
The Associated Press will provide results and declare winners in contested primaries for U.S. Senate, the state Supreme Court, the state Public Service Commission and the state school board, plus the five statewide ballot measures.
Voter eligibility is limited by party registration.. Registered party members may vote only in their own party’s primary. meaning Democrats cannot vote in the Republican primary and vice versa.. Independent or unaffiliated voters can participate in either primary. while voters registered with other parties may vote only on nonpartisan contests.
Louisiana had about 3 million registered voters as of May 1. including roughly 1.1 million registered Democrats and about 1.1 million registered Republicans. with Democrats holding a slight advantage.. Approximately 813,000 voters were not registered with any party, and the rest were registered with other parties.
Participation under the new system will be watched closely. About 192,000 votes were cast in the Republican primary and about 167,000 in the Democratic contest during 2024, with each contest representing about 6% of registered voters.
Early and absentee voting also stood out in 2024: about 41% of the Republican primary vote and about 45% of the Democratic primary vote was cast before primary day.
As of Thursday, roughly 255,000 ballots had already been cast for Saturday’s election, about 44% from Democrats and about 41% from Republicans.
Early and absentee results typically come out first through parish-by-parish updates, with separate totals for early voting and in-person Election Day votes.
The timeline for vote counting can vary, but in the 2024 general election, AP first reported results at 9:32 p.m. ET, 32 minutes after polls closed. The last update that night was at 11:56 p.m. ET, with more than 99% of votes counted.
AP does not make projections.. It will declare a winner only when it is determined that there is no path for a trailing candidate to close the gap.. If a race has not been called. AP will continue to report developments such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. while making clear that no winner has been declared and explaining why.
Recounts are handled differently than in some states.. Louisiana has no automatic recounts, but candidates may request and pay for a recount of absentee and early votes.. AP may still declare a winner in a race subject to a recount if the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.
The calendar adds another layer to the political pressure in Louisiana. with a possible runoff and a fast approach to the next major national voting moment.. As of Saturday. there will be 42 days until the primary runoff if needed. 171 days until the 2026 midterm elections and the rescheduled U.S.. House jungle primaries, and 210 days until the general election runoff.
Louisiana primaries Bill Cassidy Donald Trump U.S. Senate race state constitutional amendments jungle primary Louisiana election results