Louisiana Congressional Special Elections: Overview and Live Results
By 270toWin Staff
March 20, 2021
There are currently five vacancies in the U.S. House of Representatives. Elections for the two open seats in Louisiana are Saturday. These are in the form of a 'jungle primary', where all candidates from all parties appear on a single ballot. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, the top two - even if of the same party - will advance to an April 24 runoff.
Polls close at 9:00 PM Eastern Time. Live results will appear below after that time.
District 2: Former Rep. Cedric Richmond won a 5th term, with 64% of the vote, in this safely Democratic district that includes most of New Orleans. Richmond resigned January 15 to join the Biden administration. A field of 15 is vying to succeed him in Saturday's primary. Democratic State Sens. Troy Carter and Karen Peterson appear to be the frontrunners. Carter has scored most of the political and newspaper endorsements, while the more progressive Peterson has gotten the support of Stacey Abrams and Emily's List. Activist Gary Chambers, also a Democrat, is the only other candidate seeing notable support in limited polling. In a recent poll, Carter received 35% support, Peterson 24% and Chambers 11%.
An April 24 runoff is likely between two of these three candidates.
District 5: The largest by area, this district encompasses the northeast part of the state. It is safely GOP territory, represented for three terms by Ralph Abraham, who was first elected in 2014. Abraham did not run in 2020. Republican Luke Letlow won this seat in a December runoff against fellow Republican Lance Harris. Letlow died on December 29, just days before he would have been seated. Julia Letlow, Luke's widow, is the heavy favorite in this field of 12. The only real question is whether she wins the race outright on Saturday (by getting a majority of the vote) or whether she wins in an April 24 runoff.
House Composition and Vacancies
There are currently 219 Democrats and 211 Republicans in the House, with five vacancies. In addition to the two Louisiana seats discussed above:
- NM-1 vacated by Deb Haaland (D) earlier this week after she was confirmed to be Secretary of the Interior. Party committees will select nominees for the June 1 special election. Likely to Safe Democratic
- OH-11 vacated by Marcia Fudge (D) on March 10 after she was confirmed to be Secretary of HUD. A primary will be held August 3, with the general election November 2. Safe Democratic
- TX-6 vacated upon the death of Ron Wright (R) on February 7. An all-party primary will be held May 1. If no candidate receives a majority, a top two runoff will follow with a date TBA. Lean to Likely Republican
