Today, the Louisiana Legislature convened for its fourth special session of the term, the first of 2025. With the Cleo District now awaiting a decisive ruling from the U.S. Supreme Court, the state is bracing for a pivotal legal and electoral moment. If the high court strikes down the second majority-minority district as an unconstitutional racial gerrymander, Louisiana will need to act quickly — and that’s exactly what this session is about.
While the court’s ruling isn’t expected until December, the qualifying period for congressional elections would typically begin that same month. So, the Legislature is buying time — not with rhetoric, but with bills.
What’s in the Bills?
HB1 and HB2, authored by Rep. Beau Beaullieu, are surgical in intent.
- HB1 moves the 2026 spring primary to May 16 and the general to June 27, pushing back qualifying to February 11, 2026. This adjustment prevents candidates from qualifying in potentially invalid districts before the Supreme Court issues its ruling.
- HB2 reschedules statewide votes on several constitutional amendments (originally set for April 18) to May 16 to align with the new election calendar.
There are two duplicate bills in the Senate, both by Caleb Kelinpeter: SB1 and SB2.
In essence, the Legislature is clearing the runway so that (should the Supreme Court rule in Louisiana’s favor) a redistricting session can be held in January with just enough time to redraw the maps and meet adjusted qualification deadlines. Secretary of State Nancy Landry has confirmed to sources that mid-January is the latest possible date to finalize new districts while still administering a lawful election.
Don’t be fooled
There are the usual critics out there — you’ve seen them before. The ones who swagger in like town criers from an old Western — stirring up the crowd with dramatic warnings and selective outrage. They rile up the townsfolk, waving around half-truths and pure emotion, never quite saying what they’re really after. They don’t offer solutions; they only provoke outrage.
And it works — at least on the gullible. This latest push is no different. Their sudden concern for process, fairness, or rural representation isn’t rooted in principle. It’s aimed squarely at undermining what they once pretended to support: the end of racial gerrymandering.
There are others out there who are interested in smashing our brand-new closed primary system, a hard-fought reform that hasn’t even had its trial run. Already, there are whispers of amending HB1 or HB2 (or the Senate counterparts, SB1 or SB2) to delay closed primaries just long enough to help a struggling incumbent limp through one more election under the old jungle primary rules. We can’t let that happen either.
The Endgame
If the Supreme Court sides with Louisiana and invalidates the Cleo District, this incremental step gives the state just enough time for the next step. That is, to redraw maps in a constitutionally compliant manner based not on race quotas but on geography, population, and common sense.
The critics will froth up a crowd against any legislator who voted for the Cleo District. But they won’t admit the real target has never been just one district. It’s the entire racialist framework imposed by Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act — a relic of a different time, born of real injustice, but now twisted into a weapon to preserve power through racial division.
This special session is another step in this multi-step process, but it’s not just about dates on a calendar. It sets up the next move in this long game effort to finally retire race-based redistricting forever.
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