Sam Jenkins
Sam Jenkins (Democratic Party) is a member of the Louisiana State Senate, representing District 39. He assumed office on January 8, 2024. His current term ends on January 10, 2028.
Jenkins (Democratic Party) ran for election to the Louisiana State Senate to represent District 39. He won in the general election on November 18, 2023.
Biography
Sam Jenkins, as of March 2020, lived in Shreveport, Louisiana. He earned a bachelor of arts in political science from Southern University and a law degree from the Southern University Law Center. Jenkins' career experience includes working as an attorney.[1]
In 2020, Jenkins was selected to serve as the House Caucus Chairman for the Democratic Party.[2]
Committee assignments
2025-2026
Jenkins was assigned to the following committees:
- Joint Capital Outlay Committee
- Judiciary A Committee
- Natural Resources Committee
- Revenue & Fiscal Affairs Committee, Vice Chair
- Senate & Governmental Affairs Committee
2023-2024
Jenkins was assigned to the following committees:
- Civil Law and Procedure Committee
- House and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Joint Select Committee on Louisiana Economic Recovery
2021-2022
Jenkins was assigned to the following committees:
2019-2020
Jenkins was assigned to the following committees:
- Civil Law and Procedure Committee
- House and Governmental Affairs Committee
- Municipal, Parochial and Cultural Affairs Committee
Sponsored legislation
Elections
2023
See also: Louisiana State Senate elections, 2023
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.
General election
General election for Louisiana State Senate District 39
Sam Jenkins defeated Cedric Glover in the general election for Louisiana State Senate District 39 on November 18, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ |  | Sam Jenkins (D) | 65.3 | 11,814 |
 | Cedric Glover (D) | 34.7 | 6,271 | |
| Total votes: 18,085 | |||
 = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Nonpartisan primary election
Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana State Senate District 39
Sam Jenkins and Cedric Glover defeated James Slagle and Barbara Norton in the primary for Louisiana State Senate District 39 on October 14, 2023.
Candidate | % | Votes | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Jenkins (D) | 33.7 | 6,526 |
| ✔ | | Cedric Glover (D) | 26.4 | 5,114 |
| James Slagle (R) | 26.0 | 5,034 | ||
 | Barbara Norton (D) | 13.8 | 2,672 | |
| Total votes: 19,346 | |||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
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Endorsements
Ballotpedia did not identify endorsements for Jenkins in this election.
2019
See also: Louisiana House of Representatives elections, 2019
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
Nonpartisan primary for Louisiana House of Representatives District 2
Incumbent Sam Jenkins won election outright in the primary for Louisiana House of Representatives District 2 on October 12, 2019.
Candidate | ||
| ✔ | | Sam Jenkins (D) |
| ||||
| = candidate completed the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection survey. | ||||
| If you are a candidate and would like to tell readers and voters more about why they should vote for you, complete the Ballotpedia Candidate Connection Survey. | ||||
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2015
Elections for the Louisiana House of Representatives took place in 2015. A primary election was held on October 24, 2015, with a general election held in districts where necessary on November 21, 2015. The signature filing deadline for candidates wishing to run in this election was September 10, 2015, at 4:30 p.m. CDT.[3]
Louisiana elections use the Louisiana majority-vote system. All candidates compete in the same primary, and a candidate can win the election outright by receiving more than 50% 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.
For information about which offices are nominated via primary election, see this article. Sam Jenkins (D) defeated Terence Vinson (D) in the October 24 blanket primary.[4][5]
| Louisiana House of Representatives, District 2 Primary Election, 2015 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Vote % | Votes | |
| Democratic |  Sam Jenkins |
60.6% | 3,505 | |
| Democratic | Terence Vinson | 39.4% | 2,282 | |
| Total Votes | 5,787 | |||
Campaign themes
2023
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sam Jenkins did not complete Ballotpedia's 2023 Candidate Connection survey.
2019
Ballotpedia survey responses
See also: Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection
Sam Jenkins did not complete Ballotpedia's Candidate Connection survey.
Campaign finance summary
Note: The finance data shown here comes from the disclosures required of candidates and parties. Depending on the election or state, this may represent only a portion of all the funds spent on their behalf. Satellite spending groups may or may not have expended funds related to the candidate or politician on whose page you are reading this disclaimer. Campaign finance data from elections may be incomplete. For elections to federal offices, complete data can be found at the FEC website. Click here for more on federal campaign finance law and here for more on state campaign finance law.
Scorecards
A scorecard evaluates a legislator’s voting record. Its purpose is to inform voters about the legislator’s political positions. Because scorecards have varying purposes and methodologies, each report should be considered on its own merits. For example, an advocacy group’s scorecard may assess a legislator’s voting record on one issue while a state newspaper’s scorecard may evaluate the voting record in its entirety.
Ballotpedia is in the process of developing an encyclopedic list of published scorecards. Some states have a limited number of available scorecards or scorecards produced only by select groups. It is Ballotpedia’s goal to incorporate all available scorecards regardless of ideology or number.
Click here for an overview of legislative scorecards in all 50 states. To contribute to the list of scorecards, email suggestions to editor@ballotpedia.org.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2025.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- The Freedom Index — Legislators are scored on their adherence to the limited government principles of the U.S. Constitution.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2024.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2023.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Louisiana Right to Life Federation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2022.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Louisiana Right to Life Federation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
- Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response — Legislators are scored on their stances on laws and policies related to sexual trauma and sexual violence.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2021.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Louisiana Right to Life Federation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
- National Federation of Independent Business — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Sexual Trauma Awareness and Response — Legislators are scored on their stances on laws and policies related to sexual trauma and sexual violence.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2020.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2019.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Right to Life Federation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2018.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Right to Life Federation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2017.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Louisiana Right to Life Federation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
- Louisiana State University Student Government — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to higher education issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
Below you can find the scorecards found for the Louisiana State Legislature in 2016.
- Americans for Prosperity - Louisiana — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to economic issues.
- Louisiana Association of Business and Industry — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to business issues.
- Louisiana Family Forum — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to social issues.
- Louisiana Right to Life Federation — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to abortion.
- Louisiana State University Student Government — Legislators are scored on their votes on bills related to higher education issues.
- The American Conservative Union — Legislators are scored on their votes on conservative issues.
See also
2023 Elections
External links
|
Candidate Louisiana State Senate District 39 |
Officeholder Louisiana State Senate District 39 |
Personal |
Footnotes
- ↑ State of Louisiana, "State Representative Sam L. Jenkins, Jr. Democrat District 2," accessed March 24, 2020
- ↑ Louisiana Democrats, "Our Leaders," accessed August 28, 2020
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "2015 Elections," accessed January 2, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Candidate Inquiry," accessed October 13, 2015
- ↑ Louisiana Secretary of State, "Official Election Results," accessed November 1, 2015
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Gregory Tarver (D) |
Louisiana State Senate District 39 2024-Present |
Succeeded by - |
| Preceded by - |
Louisiana House of Representatives District 2 2016-2024 |
Succeeded by Steven Jackson (D) |
