Louisiana Closed Primary Bill Shelved

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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — A Senate Republican leader Wednesday scrapped efforts to redesign Louisiana's primary elections in the legislative session, amid sharp disagreements among GOP officials about whether to make changes or leave the state's “jungle primary" system intact.

Slidell Sen. Sharon Hewitt proposed a return to closed party primaries for congressional elections because of concerns that Louisiana's open primary often has the state electing members of Congress later than the rest of the country.

But the idea divided leaders in her own party, with GOP statewide elected officials and Republicans in the state's congressional delegation at odds over the idea. The feud raised questions about whether the bill could pass, and Hewitt said she would continue studying the issue.

“My intention is not to run the bill this session,” Hewitt told the Senate and Governmental Affairs Committee, which she chairs.

Of closed primaries, she said: “I don’t think that we’re really at that place yet in our state.”

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Attorney General Jeff Landry, a conservative Republican eyeing a bid for governor in 2023, supports closed primaries for congressional, statewide and legislative races.

But Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, a moderate Republican also considering a run for governor, has actively lobbied against the bill, showing up at a recent meeting of the state GOP’s governing body to criticize closed primaries. He argued that changing the system would shrink voter participation, confuse and frustrate voters and lead to more partisanship.

Republican U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy said a shift to closed primaries “seems like a stupid idea.”

The proposal from Hewitt, also a potential gubernatorial candidate, stemmed in part from a push by Republican U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise.

Scalise asked lawmakers to consider making changes to the election system to stop Louisiana from regularly selecting its members of Congress later than most other states. He was supported in the effort by Democratic state Sen. Cleo Fields, a former member of Congress.

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