Republican Party of Louisiana
Republican Party of Louisiana | |
---|---|
Chairperson | Derek Babcock |
Governor of Louisiana | Jeff Landry |
Founded | 1865 |
Headquarters | 530 Lakeland Dr. Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 70802 |
Membership (2021) | 1,008,625[1] |
Ideology | Conservatism |
Political position | Right-wing |
Colors | Red |
Louisiana House of Representatives | 71 / 105 |
Louisiana State Senate | 27 / 39 |
Statewide Executive Offices | 7 / 7 |
U.S. House of Representatives | 5 / 6 |
U.S. Senate | 2 / 2 A |
Public Service Commission | 3 / 5 |
State Supreme Court | 5 / 7 |
Website | |
www | |
The Republican Party of Louisiana (LAGOP) (French: Parti républicain de Louisiane, Spanish: Partido Republicano de Luisiana) is the affiliate of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its chair is Louis Gurvich, who was elected in 2018. It is currently the dominant party in the state, controlling all but one of Louisiana's six U.S. House seats, both U.S. Senate seats, all statewide executive offices, and both houses of the state legislature.
History
The Republican Party of Louisiana was founded as the "Friends of Universal Suffrage" on November 4, 1865, by a group of whites,
The party held a convention in June 1867, during which the party was divided between a pro-civil rights wing seeking integration and a wing led by Henry C. Warmoth. That same month James Longstreet joined the party.[4]
Threatened by black majorities in several areas and unhappy with the outcome of the war, white
In 1898 the Democratic-dominated Louisiana legislature followed Mississippi (and other Southern states) in passing a new constitution and laws with provisions that created barriers to voter registration and voting by blacks in the state, and also adversely affected many poor whites. These provisions included a
Since the late 20th century, the Republican Party in Louisiana and other southern states has had a resurgence fed by the movement of white conservatives from the Democratic Party to its ranks. This change was seen first in their voting for Republican presidential candidates, in states across the South.
Until the early 1950s, when blacks were still disenfranchised, no Republican won a single
Since the 1990s, Louisiana's U.S. House delegation has overall had a Republican tilt, and the number of Republicans elected to both houses of the
Although it was years before Republicans commanded a majority of the state house, they often secured important leadership posts. A notable example is
In 2004
In 2009 election of Republican former U.S. Representative Clyde C. Holloway to the Louisiana Public Service Commission (PSC), which regulates utility companies, gave that body its first-ever Republican majority. In 2010, Republicans gained a majority of both houses of the Louisiana state legislature for the first time since Reconstruction, when party affiliations were quite different.[6]
In 1992, the Louisiana Republican Party refused to censure its member, David Duke, who was a former leader of the white supremacist terrorist organization Ku Klux Klan and who was known for racist views.[7] Though in 2016, they did denounce him as he announced his campaign for the U.S. Senate.[8]
In 2021, the Louisiana Republican Party censured Senator
In January 2023 the party voted to condemn the Biden Administration's prisoner exchange with Russia for Brittney Griner. Though it was later taken out, many members wanted to add language to the resolution describing Griner as "LGBT woke".[10]
Organization
The Republican Party of Louisiana is represented by its 144-member State Central Committee, which is established in the Louisiana Election Code, essentially Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes (LRS).
The State Central Committee attempts to coordinate the efforts of the parish executive committees and related organizations.
Current elected officials
The Republican Party of Louisiana controls six of seven of the statewide constitutional offices and holds a majority in the Louisiana House of Representatives and in the Louisiana Senate. The party also holds both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and five of the six U.S. House seats.
Members of Congress
U.S. Senate
Republicans have controlled both of Louisiana's seats in the U.S. Senate since 2014:
-
Senior U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy
-
Junior U.S. Senator John Kennedy
U.S. House of Representatives
Out of the 6 seats Louisiana is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 5 are held by Republicans:
- LA-01: Steve Scalise (House Majority Leader)
- LA-03: Clay Higgins
- LA-04: Mike Johnson (Speaker of the House)
- LA-05: Julia Letlow
- LA-06: Garret Graves
Statewide offices
Republicans control all of the seven elected statewide offices:
- Governor of Louisiana: Jeff Landry
- Lieutenant Governor: Billy Nungesser
- Attorney General: Liz Murrill
- Secretary of State: Nancy Landry
- Commissioner of Agriculture and Forestry: Mike Strain
- Commissioner of Insurance: Tim Temple
- State Treasurer: John Fleming
State legislative leaders
- President of the Senate: Cameron Henry
- Majority Leader: Jeremy Stine
- Speaker of the House: Phillip DeVillier
- Speaker Pro Tempore: Michael T. Johnson
- Majority Leader: Mark Wright
List of State Republican chairmen
- John E. Jackson (1929–1934)
- LeRoy Smallenberger (1960–1964)
- Charlton Lyons (1964–1968)
- Charles deGravelles (1968–1972)
- James H. Boyce (1972–1976)
- John H. Cade, Jr. (1976–1978)
- George Despot (1978–1985)
- Donald G. Bollinger (1986–1988)
- William "Billy" Nungesser (1988–1992)
- Dud Lastrapes (1992–1994)
- Mike Francis (1994–2000)
- Chuck McMains (2000)
- Pat Brister (2000–2004)
- Roger F. Villere, Jr. (2004–2018)
- Louis Gurvich (2018-2024 )
- Derek Babcock (2024-)
References
- ^ "Statewide Registered Voters 2021". Retrieved June 9, 2021.
- ^ Rebecca J. Scott, Degrees of Freedom: Louisiana and Cuba after Slavery (Cambridge, 2005), 39.
- ^ W. E. B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction, 1935
- ^ Abbott 1986, p. 128.
- ^ See also Francis Grevemberg's 1960 Louisiana Republican gubernatorial campaign.
- ^ Jacobs, David (April 14, 2014). "The state of the GOP: A heated Senate race illustrates the divides in Louisiana's Republican Party". Greater Baton Rouge Business Report. Vol. 32, no. 16. Baton Rouge. pp. 27–35. Archived from the original on April 19, 2014. Retrieved April 16, 2014.
- ^ "Louisiana GOP Won't Censure Duke". Los Angeles Times. September 24, 1989. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- ^ @LAGOP (July 22, 2016). "The @lagop opposes, in the strongest possible terms, David Duke's candidacy for any public office. #lasen" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- ^ Kelly Mena and Dan Merica (February 14, 2021). "Louisiana Republican Party censures Cassidy following vote to convict Trump". CNN. Retrieved February 14, 2021.
- ^ O'Donoghue, Julie (January 8, 2023). "Louisiana Republican Party objects to Brittney Griner prisoner swap". Louisiana Illuminator. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
- ^ Louisiana Election Code (Title 18 of the Louisiana Revised Statutes).
- Orleans Parish prior to his being elected to represent Louisiana's 2nd congressional district.
Works cited
- Abbott, Richard (1986). The Republican Party and the South, 1855-1877: The First Southern Strategy. ISBN 0807816809.
Notes
- A.^ Although Louisiana's senior US Senator Bill Cassidy is a member of the Senate Republican Conference, the Party's Louisiana affiliate has censured him.