Dem
51
GOP
49
Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) has been officially sworn in as the replacement for Gov. John Bel Edwards (D-LA). And just hours after taking office, he issued an executive order calling for a special session of the Louisiana legislature, to run from Jan. 15 to Jan. 23.
Landry has a whole list of projects he wants the legislature to work on during those 8 days, two of them of interest to a national audience. To start, Louisiana is under court order to draw new House district maps, and Landry wants to get that taken care of. The state's six-person delegation is currently 5R, 1D, with the D being Troy Carter. Carter is Black and represents a D+25 district centered on the majority-Black (53.6%) city of New Orleans. In theory, it should be 2 D in a state that is 32.8% Black. One suspects that Landry has taken a gander at the maneuvering in Georgia and other places, and has some ideas as to how to keep that 2 D from coming to pass. We'll learn in a week or so.
Landry's other major project is to get rid of Louisiana's jungle-style primary, and to replace it with a system more akin to other Southern states (primary, then runoff if nobody gets 50%, then general, then runoff again if nobody gets 50%). The Governor's proclamation does not explain why he wants to switch, though the general consensus is that the jungle primary combats extremism. So, perhaps he wants to make it easier for far-right looney birds to get elected. Many Louisianans like the current system just fine, thank you very much, so changing it might not be so easy. Again, we'll learn in a week or so. (Z)