Overview & Live Results: Louisiana Congressional Special Election
By 270toWin Staff
April 24, 2021
The vacancy in Louisiana's 2nd congressional district will be filled Saturday. There is also a special election to fill an opening in the State House. Both races feature two candidates of the same party, so there's no suspense from that perspective.
Polls close at 9:00 PM ET; live results will be available below.
Congressional District 2
This New Orleans area seat has been empty since Democrat Cedric Richmond resigned in January to join the Biden administration. In the all-party primary held March 20, no candidate received a majority of the vote, forcing today's election. Democratic State Sens. Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson (no relationship) were the top two finishers: Carter received 36% support to 23% for Peterson.
Carter has won the endorsement of Richmond as well as a number of current members of Congress. Peterson has seen more endorsements from the progressive wing of the party, including Stacey Abrams and Elizabeth Warren. We've seen no polling for this runoff.
There are currently 218 Democrats and 212 Republicans in the House, with five vacancies. The newest member, Republican Julia Letlow, assumed office on April 14. She won Louisiana's 5th district special election outright - with 65% of the vote - on March 20. Once the District 2 winner is seated, the Democratic edge will grow by one.
The next congressional special election is on May 1 in TX-6. It is an all-party primary for the vacancy created when Republican Ron Wright died in February. That is likely to result in a top two runoff on a date to be announced. An additional vacancy will occur on May 15, when Republican Steve Stivers (OH-15) resigns.
State House District 82
The 105 member Louisiana State House has 67 Republicans, 35 Democrats and 2 independents. The next regularly scheduled election is 2023. The District 82 vacancy occurred with the resignation of Republican Charles Henry on January 12. Two Republicans, Edwin Connick and Laurie Schlegel, advanced in the March 20 all-party primary.
