It used to be said that Republicans in Louisiana could hold their conventions in a phone booth. That was the joke that Democrats put out whenever they had the opportunity.
But today, there are almost an equal number of GOPs in the state House of Representatives and Republicans are shy only three members from a tie in the state Senate.
But come the mid-term elections this fall, even that may change. And now for the rest of this cockeyed column.
A weird mix up in the way elections are held in Louisiana will soon come to an end but we will have to bear with the complexity of voting in party and open primaries at the same time this fall if we can. Qualifications started yesterday for those elections so expect some lively and partisan campaigning ahead.
The party primaries this year, which the state legislature recently voted to change back to open primaries in later elections, will be for members of the U. S. Senate and House of Representatives. Originally we had only party primaries to choose the party nominees followed by a general election in which the winner between those nominees would be chosen.
Then Edwin Edwards had the law changed to provide open primaries for candidates from all parties to run against each other with the winning two candidates in each race running against each other in a general election. He did so after he had to go through three elections – – a party primary, a party primary runoff and a general election – – to win his election over former Gov. Dave Treen for governor. Then the open primaries for federal offices were changed by the legislature back to party primaries several years later to conform to the method of election for the offices in all of the other 50 states, retaining the open primaries followed by general elections for state and local elections. But the legislature decided it wasn’t worth the extra trip to the polls so this year it voted to go back to the open primary system for federal elections also after the coming elections.
The party primaries for Congress will be held August 28 and the primary runoffs will be October 2, the same day as the open primaries for state and local offices. At stake will be Sen. David Vitter’s seat in the senate and all of the state seats in the House of Representatives. Republican Vitter’s seat is being sought by Democratic Congressman Charlie Melancon, who represents St. Charles Parish.
It should be a close election and could help the Democrats save their majority in the Senate if Melancon wins. On the other hand, they will be losing one of their representatives and it is expected that a Republican could take over Melancon’s seat in the House.
The open primary for state and local offices will include races for lieutenant governor to replace Mitch Landrieu, who resigned to take over as mayor of New Orleans, and races for the school board in St. Charles Parish. The general election for all offices will be held on November 2. The Democratic and Republican nominees from the party primaries and Independents will be on the ballot in races for senator and congressmen. It will be winner take all whether they win a majority or not. The general election will also provide a race between the two leaders in each of the state and local open primaries and the top vote getters will be elected.
Confused? We’re sure the candidates you favor will try to let you know exactly which primaries you can vote in and how to tie it in with his or her general election victory.
We hope the right people win.
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