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What's on the ballot? - November 21, 2015
November 20, 2015
By Ballotpedia staff Follow @ballotpedia
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| Elections on November 21, 2015 |
| Louisiana |
Louisiana voters head back to the polls on November 21 to decide state and local races that went to runoff elections. Our coverage of the Louisiana runoffs includes a contentious gubernatorial race, a close lieutenant gubernatorial race, 19 state legislative runoffs and elections for parish courts.
State elections
U.S. Sen. David Vitter (R) and State Rep. John Bel Edwards (D) emerged from the October 24 gubernatorial blanket primary by defeating seven other candidates. The runoff campaign was heated, with Vitter and Edwards trading allegations over character issues, connections to term-limited Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) and the state's refusal to accept Syrian refugees. Vitter reported a $4 million balance in his campaign account by the end of the third quarter of 2015, while Edwards trailed with $1.3 million. Despite his fundraising advantage, Vitter trailed Edwards by an average of 13 percent in polls conducted through November 16, 2015.[1]
The lieutenant gubernatorial race has been starkly different from the Edwards-Vitter clash. Kip Holden (D) and Billy Nungesser (R) were collegial during a candidate forum in November 2015, agreeing to keep campaigning clean in the race to replace term-limited Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (R).[2] Nungesser led Holden by a single point in a late October 2015 poll after Holden's 3-point margin over Nungesser in the October primary.
Residents of four state Senate and 15 state House districts will decide state legislative races on Saturday. There were 144 total legislative seats up for election in Louisiana on October 24, which means 13.2 percent of these races require runoff elections. Races for House Districts 32, 60 and 103 could lead to partisan flips, while Senate Districts 12 and 38 could potentially switch parties. Republican control of both chambers of the Louisiana State Legislature will not be impacted by the runoffs given limited opportunities for partisan switches.
Local elections
Runoff elections at the local level are relatively quiet, with a scattering of judicial and school board races. Voters in St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes will decide races for local justice courts. Republican candidates Eddie Guidry and Lewis Pitman face off for the 16th Judicial District seat, which encompasses Iberia, St. Martin and St. Mary parishes.[3]
Orleans Parish School Board is the only school district among America's largest school districts by enrollment to require a runoff on Saturday. Orleans Parish scheduled this special election to replace Ira Thomas, who resigned from the board in March 2015 in the midst of federal bribery charges related to his work as a university police chief.[4] The race for a single seat on the board includes incumbent John Brown Sr. (D) and challenger Shawon Bernard (D). Bernard edged out third-place finisher Keith Barney (D) by 29 votes.
Note: Click on the links below for more details about each race and election results.
Louisiana
Gubernatorial election
- See also: Louisiana gubernatorial election, 2015
- General election runoff between David Vitter (R) and John Bel Edwards (D).
Lieutenant gubernatorial election
- General election runoff between Kip Holden (D) and Billy Nungesser (R).
Attorney general election
- General election runoff between incumbent Buddy Caldwell (R) and Jeff Landry (R).
Judicial elections
- See also: Louisiana judicial elections, 2015
- Contested elections for the 16th Judicial District and parish courts in St. John the Baptist and St. Tammany parishes.
School board elections
- See also: Louisiana school board elections, 2015
- Runoff general for the District 1 seat on the Orleans Parish School Board.
State legislature
- See also: State legislative elections, 2015
- Runoff general for the state Senate and state House.
See also
Footnotes
- ↑ The Times Picayune, "Louisiana's final gubernatorial debate: 5 things you need to know about it," November 16, 2015
- ↑ Fox 8, "Lieutenant governor candidates keep it friendly in Baton Rouge debate," November 16, 2015
- ↑ KLFY News.com, "Retired longtime Judge James R. McClelland Succumbs to ALS," March 17, 2015
- ↑ Fox 8, "Ira Thomas resigns from SUNO, Orleans School Board," March 6, 2015
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