WASHINGTON (AP) — Louisiana voters will decide which presidential candidates will receive their eight electoral votes in the Nov. 5 election. Also on the ballot are races for the U.
S. House and a pair of statewide ballot measures. The state has been reliably Republican in presidential contests since 2000, and much of the state — outside larger metropolitan areas such as New Orleans and Baton Rouge — has gone for the GOP.
Fewer and fewer Louisiana residents are registered Democrats, while the number of GOP voters has grown. Four of the state’s six U.S.
House districts are considered safe for Republicans. A fifth is the New Orleans-anchored 2nd District, which has been safe for Democrats. A new wrinkle is the 6th District, a second majority Black district at the heart of a U.
S. Supreme Court ruling in May . Two members of the House GOP leadership, Speaker Mike Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise, are up for reelection.
Louisiana is unique in that the Nov. 5 election is an open primary for non-presidential races. That means the state has not yet held primaries to whittle down the field of candidates for office other than president.
To win a seat on Nov. 5, the top candidate must receive at least 50% of the vote, plus one. If no candidate reaches that mark, the top two vote-getters will go on to a Dec.
7 runoff that is known as Louisiana’s general election. All but one of the contests have at least three people running. Votes for Democrats may be concentrated in t.
