2026 Midterms State GuideLouisiana
Hold on to your crawfish and beignets.
Polls are closed
Polls are closed in Louisiana, and results aren’t finalized yet.
Ballots are still being counted, close races can take days to call, and no result is official until it’s certified.
A prayer for Louisiana
Father of all, we lift up Louisiana as election day nears. Even in their deep divisions, draw near to voters and unite them in the things that matter most. Give them unconditional love for neighbors of all backgrounds. Teach them to prioritize the good of their communities and the glory of Your name above all. May they cast their votes with humble conviction and hold the outcome with open hands.
Read the whole prayerUpdated
Hi! It’s me, Shadrach. Apparently, I’m your civic guide today. If you’ve been complaining about how things are going (and I’ve heard you... the walls are thin), this guide will help you feel informed and able to vote in this year’s midterms. Now, hold on to your crawfish and beignets, and let’s get into it.
Louisiana at a glance
Louisiana votes on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026, for U.S. Senate, all 6 U.S. House seats and 10 statewide ballot measures.
- Election Day
- Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2026
- Voter registration
- Oct. 5: In-person or mail voter registration deadline
- Early voting
- Oct. 20 to Oct. 27: early voting period
- U.S. Senate
- 2 candidates
- U.S. House
- 6 seats
- Statewide ballot measures
- 10
What happens next
The counting continues
Election-night numbers are unofficial. Mail, provisional, and military ballots are still being counted, so close races can take days to call.
Officials double-check the count
Local election officials review the ballots and the tallies (the canvass). A very close race can go to a recount.
Louisiana certifies the results
Results become official once Louisiana certifies them, usually a few weeks after Election Day.
Runoffs, if needed
A race where no candidate wins enough of the vote goes to a runoff between the top two.
- Dec. 12U.S. House runoff: the top two advance if no one won a majority on Nov. 3.
Winners take office
The new Congress takes office in early January. Governors and other state officials take office on dates set by state law, most of them in January too.
Important dates
- May 16Primaries This date has passed.
- Jun. 27Primary runoffs This date has passed.
- Oct. 5In-person or mail voter registration deadline This date has passed.
- Oct. 13Online voter registration deadline This date has passed.
- Oct. 20 to Oct. 27early voting period This date has passed.
- Oct. 30Absentee ballot request deadline. This date has passed.
- Nov. 2Absentee ballot return deadline This date has passed.
- Nov. 3Election Day This date has passed.
- Dec. 12U.S. House runoff: the top two advance if no one won a majority on Nov. 3
What’s at stake
Louisianans are voting under a new map this year, one that was sent all the way up to SCOTUS, where it received a ruling that changed the landscape of redistricting. As such, it’s received outsized attention this cycle despite not being a competitive state. State voter concerns trend the same as national voter concerns. A 2026 Pelican Pulse poll found that Louisianans are overwhelmingly concerned about cost of living and inflation. 40% named it as the issue in most need of addressing in their community, followed by the economy (18%), crime and policing (11%), and healthcare (11%). 78% feel state government and policies bear at least some responsibility for rising utility costs, 68% believe the government collects and spends too much money, and 7 in 10 want school choice.
Who’s on your ballot
Tap a race to see the candidates.
- Get to know ’em
Jamie DavisDemocrat
All U.S. House of Representatives seats are up for election every two years. Find your district here.
This year, Louisiana is debuting some
new parade routesdistrict boundaries, making it one of nine states to feature a new Congressional map in 2026.- How the House vote works
Louisiana’s U.S. House races are open primaries this year: all candidates, regardless of party, appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. If no one wins a majority, the top two advance to a Dec. 12 runoff.
- Shadrach’s big picture
Louisiana has six House seats. Under the new map, Republicans are expected to hold five of those seats (up from the old map’s four).
- Open seats
Two: District five’s incumbent, Rep. Julia Letlow (R), is running for U.S. Senate, and Rep. Cleo Fields (D-6) is running for the Louisiana Legislature.
- The redistricting effect
Voters from LA-6 were packed into LA-2, keeping the second district solidly Democratic but flipping the sixth district seat from solidly Democratic to solidly Republican.
- Competitive districts
No Louisiana district is considered competitive (LA-2 is solidly Democratic, the rest are solidly Republican), and candidates in both parties filed to run in all six districts, so no district is guaranteed to either party.
Statewide ballot measures
10 to read before you go. Tap one to open it.
This amendment would let the surviving spouse of a veteran with a service-connected disability, who already receives the extra disabled-veteran property tax exemption, transfer that exemption one time to a new home. The transferred exemption would be capped at the amount claimed on the old home.
Voting yessupports letting the surviving spouse of a disabled veteran move the extra disabled-veteran property tax exemption to a new home one time, capped at the amount claimed on the old home.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the extra exemption tied to the current home, with no one-time transfer to a new home.After property is reassessed, Louisiana automatically adjusts local tax rates so the total collected stays about the same. A taxing body can then vote, by two-thirds after a public hearing, to raise its rate back up to its previous maximum without going back to voters. Under current rules, if it keeps charging the lower rate past the next reassessment, it permanently loses that option. This amendment would let it keep charging the lower rate without losing the option to return to the previous maximum later.
Voting yessupports letting local taxing bodies keep a lower property tax rate without losing their option to later raise it back to the previous maximum by a two-thirds board vote, without going back to voters.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the current rule: a taxing body that keeps a lower rate past the next reassessment permanently loses the option to return to its previous maximum.This amendment would not allow defendants to post bail after a conviction if they are convicted of an aggravated offense against a minor.
Voting yessupports denying bail after conviction to defendants convicted of an aggravated offense against a minor.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping post-conviction bail available to these defendants under the current rules.This amendment would change how many terms a governor can serve. Right now, a former governor can serve two terms, sit out one term, and run again. This amendment would change it to a permanent, lifetime maximum of two terms total.
Voting yessupports limiting governors to a lifetime maximum of two terms total.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the current rule, where a former governor can serve two terms, sit out one term, and run again.When the state has extra one-time money, the constitution requires at least a quarter of it to go toward paying down debt in the state's public employee and teacher retirement systems, and each system must apply it to its oldest pension debt first. This amendment would remove that ordering rule, letting each retirement system decide which of its pension debts to pay down.
Voting yessupports removing the oldest-debt-first rule, letting each state retirement system choose which of its pension debts to pay down with that money.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the rule that this money must go to each system’s oldest pension debt first.This amendment would let individual parishes and cities (if their own voters separately approve it in a local election) offer homeowners 65 and older an extra property tax exemption on top of what they already get. The amount would grow with age, up to an extra $30,000 of assessed value at 81 and older. It would only apply to homeowners who already qualify for the homestead exemption and the state's existing senior income-based tax freeze, and a surviving spouse could keep the benefit under certain conditions.
Voting yessupports letting parishes and cities, with their own voters’ approval, offer homeowners 65 and older an extra property tax exemption that grows with age, up to an extra $30,000 of assessed value at 81 and older.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping seniors’ property tax exemptions as they are today, with no local option to add more.This amendment would allow local governments to use public funds to find, inventory, remove, or replace drinking water service lines on customers' property that are made of or affected by hazardous materials covered by the EPA's 2024 lead pipe rule.
Voting yessupports letting local governments use public funds to find, remove, or replace drinking water service lines on customers’ property that are affected by hazardous materials such as lead.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, leaving local governments without the power to spend public funds on those service lines on customers’ property.Louisiana law already bans a short list of hostile foreign governments and their agents from buying property in the state. This amendment closes a related gap: right now, a private entity authorized by law to expropriate (use eminent domain) can take someone's property only if it's for a public and necessary purpose and the owner is paid fairly, but nothing stops one of those foreign adversaries from doing so. The amendment would add a flat ban on top of the existing rule. Those governments or their agents couldn't use eminent domain to take property in Louisiana at all, no matter the purpose or payment offered.
Voting yessupports banning the hostile foreign governments already barred from buying Louisiana property, and their agents, from using eminent domain to take property in the state, no matter the purpose or payment offered.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping only the existing rule (a public and necessary purpose and fair payment), with no flat ban on foreign adversaries using eminent domain.This amendment would make more homeowners eligible for the special assessment level, a property tax freeze that locks in a qualifying home's assessed value so taxes don't rise just because the home's value does. Currently, the income limit to qualify is $100,000 (adjusted for inflation); this amendment would raise it to $150,000 starting in 2027, adjusted for inflation from 2028, and would bar local taxing bodies from shifting the resulting revenue loss onto other taxpayers.
Voting yessupports raising the income limit for the property tax freeze from $100,000 to $150,000 and barring local taxing bodies from shifting the lost revenue onto other taxpayers.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, keeping the current income limit of $100,000 (adjusted for inflation).This amendment would allow local governments to give a tax exemption for derelict or blighted property, as defined by the state legislature, that has been rehabilitated.
Voting yessupports letting local governments give a tax exemption for derelict or blighted property that has been rehabilitated.Voting noopposes this constitutional amendment, leaving local governments without the power to offer that exemption.
Also on the ballot
Other races Louisiana voters will decide.
- Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (1 seat)
- Public Service Commission (2 seats)
- Special state legislative
- State Supreme Court
- Intermediate appellate courts
- School boards
- Municipal government
- Local ballot measures
Whose job is it?
Ten things government does. Tap the office that does each one.
Whose job is it to…
1 of 10
Declare a state of emergency after a hurricane or flood?
Pass it on
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From the newsroom
How TPO has covered Louisiana this cycle. Tap one to read it here.
Senator Bill Cassidy lost his reelection bid Saturday, finishing third behind Trump-backed challenger Rep. Julia Letlow and State Treasurer John Fleming in Louisiana’s Republican primary. Cassidy, one of seven GOP Senators who voted to convict President Trump in his second impeachment trial, thanked supporters, saying sometimes democracy “doesn’t turn out the way you want.” Letlow and Fleming face a June 27 runoff.
One story from that day’s newsletter.
Read the full day’s news- May 11Louisiana considers new congressional map
- May 1Supreme Court strikes down Louisiana’s congressional map
A prayer for Louisiana
Father of all, we lift up Louisiana as election day nears. Even in their deep divisions, draw near to voters and unite them in the things that matter most. Give them unconditional love for neighbors of all backgrounds. Teach them to prioritize the good of their communities and the glory of Your name above all. May they cast their votes with humble conviction and hold the outcome with open hands.
Shield candidates from the temptation to win at any cost. May they lead their parishes with humility and remember that the people they seek to represent belong to You before they belong to any party. If they win, surround them with wise counsel and guide them toward decisions that serve their constituents. For those who lose, may they do so with dignity and a unifying spirit.
Guard the hearts and minds of those weighed down by noise, grieved by division, or afraid of tomorrow. For You are not shaken by elections, You govern governors, and Your kingdom will not be moved.
Amen.