Louisiana election results: May 3, 2025
A lone legislative race and a smattering of local tax referendums around the state were put before Louisiana voters Saturday, when a sparse ballot had to compete with the usual spring schedule of festivals and events throughout the Bayou State
In East Baton Rouge Parish, a special election was held to fill the vacancy in Louisiana House District 67. The position became open when Larry Selders won a February election for the state Senate seat vacated when Cleo Fields won the 6th Congressional District race last year.
One notable item on Saturday's ballot was the Lake Charles mayoral race, with Republican incumbent Nic Hunter losing to independent challenger Marshall Simien Jr.
Other highlights from Saturday's results included a rejected property tax referendum for the East Baton Rouge Parish district attorney's office. DA Hillar Moore had said the new millage was needed to bring his agency up to par in staffing and compensation with comparably large prosecutorial districts in Orleans and Jefferson parishes.
The 4-mill levy was projected to raise $24 million annually, with Moore projecting there would be enough revenue generated for his office to return millions to the parish government general fund. With the new tax failing, resources for the district attorney will continue to come from parish government.
In New Orleans, voters narrowly approved a property tax for the Orleans Parish Sheriff's Office, which has the primary task of operating the city jail. The final vote tally saw the measure prevail by a margin of two votes out of more than 25,000 ballots cast. The results still have to be verified by the Secretary of State.
Although the sheriff's tax has already been in place for years, opponents leaned into a 'no new taxes' message in their campaign against the 2.46-mill, 10-year collection. The tax is expected to generate nearly $14 million in revenue for the sheriff's office.
St. Tammany Parish voters approved a bond sale for its public school system with a ceiling of $325 million. The debt is not expected to result in an increase to existing property millages dedicated to the school district.
A property tax in Livingston Parish public schools was renewed for another 10 years. The 7 mills will generate nearly $5 million a year for the district.
Rapides Parish voters also renewed two property taxes for their public school system, totaling 9.58 mills combined, for the next 10 years. They're forecast to generate more than $10 million annually.
SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Axios
17 minutes ago
- Axios
Colorado lawmakers tap reserve, end tax breaks to fill budget gap
Democratic leaders at the state Capitol outlined plans Tuesday to increase taxes, cut services and tap reserve funds to close a $1 billion budget hole spurred by President Trump's "big, beautiful bill." State of play: The legislation will generate fierce debate about how the state should manage its money when lawmakers return Thursday for a special legislative session. The core of the Democratic plan eliminates a handful of corporate tax breaks worth a combined $300 million to $400 million. The five-bill package will limit the business tax deduction, remove corporate tax breaks on foreign-sold goods and crack down on corporate profit shifting to tax haven countries. The intrigue: The most controversial proposal is lowering the state's 15% financial reserve by $200 million to $300 million, dropping it to 13% at a time when fiscal analysts are warning about a potential recession. Yes, but: Those moves are not enough to close a roughly $750 million gap. Instead, lawmakers will punt $300 million in spending cuts to balance the $44 billion state budget to the governor in consultation with the legislative Joint Budget Committee in the coming weeks. The governor is expected to move quickly to implement cuts by Sept. 1. What they're saying: "We're looking forward to rolling up our sleeves and making sure we can maintain strong fiscal stewardship here in Colorado," Gov. Jared Polis told Axios Denver in a recent interview. Between the lines: More than most states, Colorado is susceptible to changes in federal taxes because they affect state income taxes. The federal tax bill, known as H.R. 1, reduced the state's individual and corporate income taxes by an estimated $1.2 billion, according to the governor's office. The other side: Republican state lawmakers are touting the cuts from Trump's tax bill and pushing back against Democratic efforts to generate new tax revenue, suggesting spending cuts are what is most needed. Sen. Byron Pelton (R-Sterling) plans to introduce legislation requiring voter approval for any bill that changes state tax liability caused by federal tax law. What's next: Beyond the budget, Democratic lawmakers also plan to introduce legislation to stabilize the state's health care marketplaces amid projections that thousands of residents could lose their insurance and enable Planned Parenthood to accept Medicaid payments.
New York Post
17 minutes ago
- New York Post
Rep. Sarah McBride rips Democrats for not knowing how to combat anti-trans attacks: ‘Can't ignore these issues'
Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Del., criticized the Democratic Party's silence on Republican-led attacks on trans issues, arguing on Tuesday that the party needs to learn how to engage on the issue. 'I do think it was a problem that our party didn't explicitly respond to the anti-trans attacks. We can't ignore these issues. We can't just not respond and leave the narrative entirely to the Republicans,' McBride said when pressed by ex-DNC chair Jaime Harrison on his podcast. Discussing how Democrats should respond to Republicans on trans issues, the lawmaker specifically noted President Donald Trump's ad during the 2024 campaign that depicted former Vice President Kamala Harris as being for 'they/them' and the president as being 'for you.' McBride, a transgender lawmaker, said the party broadly should be focused on a 'diverse working class,' and should reject the idea of 'absolute purity politics.' 'I will say one of the reasons why, the sense that I have gotten from some Democrats as I talked to them, that you often see silence from Democrats in response to these attacks is because, to your point, they don't know how to respond, not because they don't know what they believe or how they feel, but because they feel like there is no way to respond in a way that doesn't result in everyone yelling at them,' McBride said during Harrison's podcast, 'At Our Table.' McBride said Democrats didn't need perfect terminology or to embrace the 'maximalist position' on trans issues, but suggested acknowledging concerns about transgender people participating in sports. Rep. Sarah McBride criticized the Democratic Party for staying silent on constant attacks from Republicans on trans issues. At Our Table with Jaime Harrison 'You can grapple with concerns around, for instance, trans people participating in sports, acknowledge that there are very real questions out there. But who is best able to answer those questions about how to balance respect and fairness in women's sports? It's not 435 members of Congress who know nothing about women's sports and even less about trans people. It's the individual athletic associations that understand their sports the best,' McBride said. The Democratic lawmaker said Republicans were trying to misdirect when they talk about trans people, accusing Trump of wanting to 'line the pockets' of corporations and wealthy people. 'And I think we have to be crystal clear about that while also pushing back against these attacks in ways that doesn't dismiss everyone with a question or a concern as a closed-minded bigot,' McBride said. On Jaime Harrison's podcast, McBride said, 'We can't ignore these issues,' and that the Democratic Party has to fight back against anti-trans attacks. Getty Images McBride said in June that the party might have overplayed its hand regarding trans issues. 'I think that's an accurate reflection of the overplaying of the hand in some ways — that we as a coalition went to Trans 201, Trans 301, when people were still at a very much Trans 101 stage,' McBride told The New York Times' Ezra Klein in an interview. The Delaware lawmaker said many of the cultural norms surrounding transgender people were likely premature for a lot of Americans. 'We became absolutist — not just on trans rights but across the progressive movement — and we forgot that in a democracy we have to grapple with where the public authentically is and actually engage with it. Part of this is fostered by social media,' McBride said.
Yahoo
26 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Georgia Republicans, against backdrop of 2026 election, push to eliminate state income tax
ATLANTA (AP) — As the 2026 election looms, Georgia Republicans seeking higher office met Tuesday to begin exploring plans for Georgia to eliminate the state's personal income tax. The Republican contenders for lieutenant governor sat on the committee spearheaded by Republican Burt Jones, who currently holds the role and is running for governor with U.S. President Donald Trump's endorsement. 'If we want to continue to stay competitive in the state of Georgia and continue to be the number one state to do business, we've got to be looking for ways to keep us competitive and make it where we have a competitive advantage over states that we are competing with all the time," Jones said. Most of the lawmakers on the panel praised the idea as one that would help working families and small businesses after hearing from Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform and a prominent conservative lobbyist for tax cuts. Currently, eight states, including Florida and Tennessee, don't tax individuals' income, according to the Tax Foundation, a tax policy think tank. Other states, including North Carolina and Louisiana, have reduced income taxes or are on their way to eliminating them. In Georgia, Democrats oppose the idea, saying it would benefit the wealthy rather than low-income people, who would face other levies. Atlanta Democrat Sen. Nan Orrock said Tuesday that eliminating the income tax would hurt vital services across the state by reducing state revenue, especially amid federal cuts to programs such as food stamps, education grants and disaster relief. 'I can go on and on with needs that we have now in many areas that would argue for having a robust revenue to meet the needs of our citizens," said Orrock. Norquist said states still generate revenue after cutting income taxes. One reason is that when businesses know states are on track to eliminate income taxes, he said, they start investing there, and residents flock over too. 'When you attract more people into the state and more investment into the state, you end up with both more money for individuals but also more tax revenue at lower rates,' said Norquist. Georgia income taxes are expected to bring in $20 billion for the state in 2026, accounting for almost half of state revenue, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law this year income tax rebates of up to $500 and a reduction in taxes to 5.19% in January for all income earned in 2025. That's part of a long-term plan to cut Georgia's income tax rate to 4.99%, which could happen as early as next year. The law already took Georgia's former system of tax brackets and created a flat income tax. The state has also paid rebates on income taxes to taxpayers in recent years, thanks to billions in surplus cash, Higher-income taxpayers collect the most benefits from income tax reductions. The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy found two-thirds of the income tax cut benefits would flow to the highest-earning 20% of Georgians. Republicans said that was only natural because most Georgians in the lowest 20% of the income distribution are mostly exempt from state income taxes. Democratic gubernatorial candidates haven't ruled out tax reductions. Former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms has suggested eliminating the state income tax for public school teachers, but said eliminating income taxes altogether would hurt funding for schools and raise costs for lower-income families. Republicans are still forging ahead. 'While the mechanics are up for debate, I think it's clear that the end goal is not,' said Sen. Appropriations Committee Chairman Blake Tillery, a Vidalia Republican who is running for lieutenant governor. ___ Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
