2 Louisiana House seats still up in the air
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Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
Midterm ballots may be in, but Louisiana still has two House races to see through before the end of the year.
Why it matters: Those votes will determine whether Rep. Troy Carter is Louisiana's sole Democrat in the House during a year that saw a historic blue wave at the polls.
Driving the news: Candidates for Louisiana's House Districts 5 and 6 are headed to runoffs Dec. 12.
- North Louisiana's District 5 was left vacant when Rep. Julia Letlow (successfully) ran for Bill Cassidy's Senate seat. Democrat Pat Moore and Republican Gabe Firment made it to the runoff, the AP projected.
- Central Louisiana's District 6 seat is open after Rep. Cleo Fields decided not to run again after Republicans' redistricting efforts made it harder for a Democrat to win there. Now, Democrat Chauna Banks and Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez are headed to a runoff, according to complete but unofficial Secretary of State results. The AP hasn't called that race yet.
Catch up quick: These races would have been decided for good last week after party primaries earlier this year.
- But after the state's redistricting efforts landed in front of the Supreme Court, lawmakers made yet another map and scrambled the 2026 election schedule.
- Ultimately, some voters cast primary ballots for House races that didn't count, and the state reset the election with jungle primaries Nov. 3 instead.
Though it's not yet clear how Districts 5 and 6 will swing, voters in both whittled down long lists of candidates to two: a white Republican man and a Black Democratic woman — notable during Tuesday's election when Black voters proved incredibly influential.
- With all candidates' votes combined, however, Republicans in the 5th and 6th districts secured far more than Democrats.
Between the lines: Republican redistricting efforts were broadly disastrous in the Nov. 3 election after new maps nationwide spread GOP support too thin, Axios reported.
What's next: Early voting begins Nov. 28.