Louisiana legislative races to watch in the November runoff

Regardless of the results of runoffs in the Nov. 18 general election, Republicans will maintain a supermajority in the Louisiana Senate and are likely to maintain their supermajority in the state House of Representatives. 

Republicans have also retaken the Governor’s Mansion and are expected to hold onto the other statewide elected offices as well. 

Nearly half of the legislature was elected without opposition, including four new House members, Reps.-elect Dennis Baumburg, R-Haughton, Rashid Young, D-Homer, Chad Boyer, R-Breaux Bridge, and Beth Billings, R-Destrehan. 

Two Senate seats and 18 House seats are headed for runoffs, but many of these are unlikely to field surprises. Here are the races to watch. 

Shreveport showdown

The most notable Senate runoff is for the Shreveport-based Senate District 39, where two big names in the House Democratic Caucus are going head to head. 

Rep. Sam Jenkins, caucus chairman, will face Rep. Cedric Glover, both members of the Legislative Black Caucus.

Jenkins was first elected to the House in 2015, while Glover served in the House from 1996-2006 before serving two terms as the mayor of Shreveport and then ultimately returning to the House in 2016. Glover also previously served on the Shreveport City Council. 

Jenkins led the polls with 34% of the vote. Glover barely squeaked past the sole Republican in the race, clinching a slot in the runoff by a margin of just 80 votes. 

Seeing double 

In the Central-based House District 65, Republican Brandon Ivey led a field of five candidates to make the runoff to replace his identical twin brother, Rep. Barry Ivey, also a Republican who unsuccessfully ran for Senate. 

Brandon Ivey, whose background is in sales, will face Republican Lauren Ventrella, an attorney who received 28% of the vote. 

McMakin it 

Attorney Dixon McMakin, a Republican, will face Board of Elementary and Secondary Education member Belinda Davis, a Democrat, in a runoff for the Baton Rouge-based Senate District 68. 

The district’s political demographics, previously held by Republican Rep. Scott McKnight, who unsuccessfully ran for state treasurer, are 37% Republican and 34% Democrat. 

Davis, a political science professor at LSU, ran for the House in 2019 but was defeated in the runoff against Rep. Barbara Freiberg. Davis was appointed to BESE by Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2020. 

The seat is likely to remain in GOP control, but Davis’ political acumen will make it an interesting fight. 

Republican in-fighting 

The newly-formed Louisiana House Freedom Caucus has made a splash in its first election cycle, endorsing several candidates running against Republican incumbents. One such endorsement was against conservative Rep. Mary DuBuisson, R-Slidell. 

The Freedom Caucus-favored candidate, Brian Glorioso, a Trump-style Republican who is an attorney in Slidell, received 44% of the vote, while DuBuisson received 48%. The third candidate, the only libertarian to run for the state legislature in 2023, received the rest. 

Glorioso has a slight fundraising edge against DuBuisson, reporting about $20,000 more in filings 30 days before the election. 

Cormier’s challenge

Incumbent Rep. Mack Cormier, a conservative Democrat from Belle Chasse, beat the only other Democrat in his race by less than 200 votes to make it into a runoff against Republican Jacob Braud, who received 40% of the vote. 

House District 105 is decidedly blue, with 44% Democrats — primarily conservative white Democrats, like Cormier himself —  and 27.5% Republicans.

Cormier also finds himself at a fundraising disadvantage, reporting about $25,000 to Braud’s $54,000 in filings 30 days before the election.