Louisiana Supreme Court justice vacancy (August 2024)
| Louisiana Supreme Court |
|---|
 |
| Genovese vacancy |
| Date: August 4, 2024 |
| Status: Seat filled |
| Nomination |
| Nominee: Cade Cole |
| Date: March 10, 2025 |
Louisiana Supreme Court Justice James Genovese retired on August 4, 2024. He announced his retirement in July 2024, after accepting an appointment to be the next president of Northwestern State University of Louisiana.[1]
Genovese's replacement was scheduled to be chosen in a 2025 special election. After the filing deadline passed, only one candidate, Cade Cole (R), qualified to appear on the ballot, cancelling the primary scheduled for March 29, 2025. Cole was sworn in on March 10, 2025.
In Louisiana, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.
Per Article V of the Louisiana Constitution, midterm vacancies are to be temporarily filled by the remaining members of the supreme court. Within one year of the opening, a special election (called by the governor, preferably on the date of a preexisting gubernatorial or congressional election) is to be held. If the supreme court has appointed a successor, that appointee may not run for the seat in the special election.[2][3] The justice elected at the special election will serve the remainder of the unexpired term.[4][5]
Ballotpedia has compiled the following resources on the process to fill the Louisiana Supreme Court vacancy:
- An overview of the appointee.
- An overview of the election.
- An overview of the selection process.
- An overview of the court following the vacancy.
- An overview of the justice who left office.
- A list of other state supreme court appointments in 2024.
The appointee
- See also: Cade Cole
Cade Cole earned a high school diploma from DeQuincy High School and a law degree from the Tulane University School of Law. His career experience includes serving as Louisiana's state and local tax judge, law clerk to Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Jeannette Theriot Knoll, private practice attorney, assistant district attorney, city attorney for Sulphur and Vinton, and city magistrate for DeQuincy.[6]
Election
Candidates and results
3rd District
- See also: Louisiana Supreme Court elections, 2025
Louisiana elections use the majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50 percent of the vote. If no candidate does, the top two vote recipients from the primary advance to the general election, regardless of their partisan affiliation.
Nonpartisan primary election
The primary election was canceled. Cade Cole (R) won the election without appearing on the ballot.
The selection process
- See also: Judicial selection in Louisiana
In Louisiana, state supreme court justices are elected in partisan elections. There are eight states that use this selection method. To read more about the partisan election of judges, click here.
Makeup of the court
- See also: Louisiana Supreme Court
Justices
Following Genovese's retirement, the Louisiana Supreme Court included the following members:
| ■ William J. Crain | Elected in 2019 | |
| ■ Scott Crichton | Elected in 2015 | |
| ■ Jay B. McCallum | Elected in 2020 | |
| ■ Jefferson Hughes | Elected in 2012 | |
| ■ John L. Weimer | Elected in 2001 | |
| ■ Piper Griffin | Elected in 2020 |
About the court
| Louisiana Supreme Court |
|---|
|
| Court Information |
| Justices: 7 |
| Founded: 1813 |
| Location: New Orleans |
| Salary |
| Associates: $194,427[7] |
| Judicial Selection |
| Method: Partisan election |
| Term: 10 years |
| Active justices |
| Cade Cole, William J. Crain, Piper Griffin, John Guidry, Jefferson Hughes, Jay B. McCallum, John L. Weimer |
Founded in 1813, the Louisiana Supreme Court is the state's court of last resort and has seven judgeships. The current chief of the court is John L. Weimer.
As of March 2025, there were three Republican, two Democratic, and one Independent judges on the court.
The Louisiana Supreme Court meets in New Orleans, Louisiana.[8]
About Justice Genovese
- See also: James Genovese
Genovese received his B.A. from Northwestern State University in 1971 and his J.D. from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 1974.[9]
Genovese worked in general practice from 1974 to 1995. From 1975 to 1989, he also served as a judge ad hoc on the Opelousas City Court. In 1995, he was elected as a judge on the 27th Judicial District Court, where he served until 2004. That year, Genovese was elected to the Louisiana Third Circuit Court of Appeal, where he served from 2005 to 2016, when he was elected to the state supreme court.[9]
Genovese previously served as president, vice-president, and secretary-treasurer of the St. Landry Parish Bar Association.[9]
Other state supreme court appointments in 2024
- See also: State supreme court vacancies, 2024
The following table lists vacancies on state supreme courts that opened in 2024. Click the link under the Court column for a particular vacancy for more information on that vacancy.
Click here for vacancies that opened in 2023.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ University of University Louisiana System, "James Genovese named 21st president of Northwestern State University," July 18, 2024
- ↑ Cite error: Invalid
<ref>tag; no text was provided for refs namedLAselection - ↑ Louisiana Supreme Court, "Henry Julien v. The Honorable W. Fox McKeithan," accessed May 6, 2014
- ↑ Louisiana Revised Statutes "RS 13:101.1," accessed July 13, 2016
- ↑ Leagle, "Marcelle v. DeCuir," September 21, 1995
- ↑ Cade Cole's campaign website, "About," accessed March 3, 2025
- ↑ The salary of the chief justice may be higher than an associate justice.
- ↑ Louisiana Supreme Court, "Home," accessed September 17, 2021
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Louisiana Supreme Court, "ASSOCIATE JUSTICE JAMES T. GENOVESE," accessed August 2, 2021
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Federal courts:
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals • U.S. District Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana • U.S. Bankruptcy Court: Eastern District of Louisiana, Middle District of Louisiana, Western District of Louisiana
State courts:
Louisiana Supreme Court • Louisiana Courts of Appeal • Louisiana District Courts • Louisiana City Courts • Louisiana Family Courts • Louisiana Justice of the Peace Courts • Louisiana Juvenile Courts • Louisiana Mayor’s Courts • Louisiana Municipal Courts • Louisiana Parish Courts • Louisiana Traffic Courts
State resources:
Courts in Louisiana • Louisiana judicial elections • Judicial selection in Louisiana
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