Louisiana Republicans take office with supermajorities in Legislature, promise 'unity’

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A Republican supermajority took control of the Louisiana Legislature on Monday with plans to work closely with the new GOP governor, Jeff Landry, to enact more conservative policies on crime, taxes and education.

Sen. Cameron Henry, a Republican and business consultant from Metairie, was formally chosen to be Senate president. Rep. Phillip DeVillier, a Eunice Republican who owns a real estate company, is the new House speaker.

House and Senate Republicans agreed weeks ago to back Henry and Devillier once Landry made clear they had his support. But both men were elected to their new positions Monday with bipartisan support after Democrats gave speeches supporting them.

The House and the Senate met in a one-day organizational session on Monday but are expected to return to the Capitol next week for an eight-day special session called by Landry.

During that session, lawmakers will redraw the boundaries of Louisiana’s congressional and Supreme Court districts, creating new Black-majority districts for both, to account for the fact that about one-third of the state’s residents are African American.

Landry also wants lawmakers to approve closing the election primaries for both state and federal offices. This would mark a monumental change from the system instituted in the 1970s by then-Gov. Edwin Edwards, a Democrat, that allows all comers, regardless of political party, to compete in the same primary. If no candidate wins more than 50%, the top two finishers advance to the runoff.

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Landry’s plan will undoubtedly face opposition since all legislators and statewide elected officials won office under the current system.

“We built the Republican Party on open primaries,” Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser said in an interview, adding that he thinks closed primaries encourage political extremism. “Candidates at least have to campaign to represent all of Louisiana. When you close the primary, you’re going to get the far left and the far right.”

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Henry, who has an undergraduate degree from LSU and a master’s degree from Tulane’s business school, declines to identify his consulting clients other than to say they don’t perform state work.

DeVillier, the son of a Louisiana State Trooper and a homemaker, is known in the Legislature for his friendly demeanor. He's an LSU graduate who founded Louisiana Structural Movers and Savannah Claire Inc., which buys residential and commercial property that it rents out.

DeVillier, 47, said he has resigned from that job to devote his time to being speaker.

“Today, with a new legislature, I have a new hope, and a renewed sense of unity," DeVillier told the House chamber Monday.

Both men have said they plan to lead their chambers in a bipartisan fashion by naming Democrats to chair legislative committees, though Republicans hold a 28-11 advantage in the Senate and 73-32 in the House.

In that vein, Henry backed Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, to hold the ceremonial role of Senate president pro tem.

Barrow spoke Monday about setting aside party lines and quoted Jeff Landry’s transition slogan, “One Louisiana.”

“I do think it’s a good start for Louisiana that Regina Barrow is quoting Jeff Landry,” Henry said later.

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Soon after his election in October, Landry summoned a group of six House members who were then vying for the speakership to his transition offices and charted a path with them toward picking a speaker by largely blocking Democrats out of the process. Republicans hoped that would prevent infighting displayed at the start of previous terms.

A process for picking nominees did not exist when previous Speaker Clay Schexnayder, R-Gonzales, formed a coalition with Democrats to win the speaker’s gavel in 2020. Conservative Republicans complained afterward about Schexnayder’s decision to give Democrats several committee chairmanships.

The new rules called for state Republicans to follow the process the party uses in Washington to select a House speaker. The speaker candidates in Louisiana were nominated by secret ballot in a Republican caucus meeting. The top vote-getter in the closed-door vote would then be elevated to the speaker nomination.

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