Louisiana Governor Sued Over Suspended US House Elections (3)

Louisiana’s governor was sued three times in cases challenging his suspension of the state’s congressional primary elections so Republican lawmakers can draw new voting districts.

By Friday, though, judges had ruled against two requests to immediately force Gov. Jeff Landry (R) to allow the US House elections to proceed.

One lawsuit and two petitions seeking immediate judge’s rulings to allow the primaries to take place on their originally-scheduled May 16 date were filed Thursday and Friday in response to Landry’s postponment until at least July 15. The governor issued an emergency executive order after the US Supreme Court on April 28 said Louisiana’s challenged congressional map and its two majority-Black districts were unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered—likely ushering in a new era of partisan map-making nationwide.

“The Governor’s unilateral and unprecedented action threatens not only Petitioners’ voting rights, but the very democratic order,” says a state court filing urging a judge to issue a temporary restraining order forcing the congressional primaries to take place. “If the Governor is permitted to declare any ‘emergency’ he wishes to justify canceling an election that is already underway, it would set a precedent that would fundamentally and forever subvert the people’s ability to trust and rely on an orderly democratic system.”

That case, brought by the New Orleans chapter of the National Council of Jewish Women, and another were filed in the 19th Judicial District Court in East Baton Rouge Parish, home to the state’s capitol of Baton Rouge. But two Republican judges there separately denied temporary restraining orders to force the elections to take place, with one judge, Richard “Chip” Moore III, writing that “holding an election with an unconstitutional map is like applying fresh paint to rotten wood.”

Another judge, Bradley C. Myers, set a hearing for Wednesday on whether to force the elections to take place through a preliminary injunction.

A third case, a proposed class action filed by a Democratic congressional candidate in US District Court for the Middle District of Louisiana, says the suspension is illegal because election officials already mailed tens of thousands of absentee ballots, a “material number” were already returned, and early voting was set to begin on Saturday.

All three cases alleged violations of state and federal constitutions and laws and say voters will be disenfranchised if Landry’s overreaching decision is allowed to stand.

The US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit’s chief judge on Friday appointed a three-judge panel to hear the federal lawsuit, while state Attorney General Liz Murrill (R) asked the court to transfer the case to the Western District of Louisiana

The governor’s order only suspended the congressional races and not elections for other offices. The move comes as Republicans and Democrats nationwide are in a sort-of arms race to gain advantages for the maximum number of seats ahead of the November US House midterm elections.

Others named defendants are Murrill and Secretary of State Nancy Landry (R).

The nation’s high court “has spoken, and a three-judge federal court has already made clear that Louisiana cannot conduct congressional elections under its now-unconstitutional map. Louisiana is following the law,” Murrill said in an emailed statement, adding that she’ll “vigorously defend” the state against lawsuits seeking to block the congressional election suspension.

The challengers are represented by Jamar Lanier Ennis of Baton Rouge, La., Gideon T. Carter III of Baton Rouge, La., NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund Inc., the ACLU Foundation of Louisiana, the American Civil Liberties Union Foundation, John Adcock of New Orleans, Harvard Law School’s Race & Law Clinic, Elias Law Group LLP, and Most & Associates.

The cases are Garcia v. Landry, M.D. La., No. 3:26-cv-00471, complaint filed 4/30/26, Sims v. Landry, La. Dist. Ct., No. C-777816, temporary restraining order denied 5/1/26, and National Council of Jewish Women--Greater New Orleans Section v. Landry, La. Dist. Ct., No. C-777814, temporary restraining order denied 5/1/26.