Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum.

Located in Jennings City Hall, the museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.

Voters head to the polls this weekend to weigh in on several key races.

Some of the biggest items on the statewide ballot include the race for Louisiana's next U.S.

Senator, and we'll help you understand five amendment, covering everything from teacher pay to the retirement age of judges.

Let's get started.

Let's do it.

Hi, everyone.

I'm Kristina Jensen, and I'm Johnny Atkinson.

This week we're bringing you a special episode of Louisiana, The State we're In focusing on the 2026 elections.

State lawmakers are moving forward with redrawing the states congressional maps after the Supreme Court struck down the previous districts.

Justices ruled against those maps, which included two majority black Dallas districts, saying they were improperly drawn with a focus on race.

Thursday, the state Senate advanced a congressional map that would eliminate one of Louisiana's majority black districts, returning the states to five Republican leaning districts in just one Democratic leaning district.

The map now heads to a House committee next week, and adding to the confusion for some voters, this will be Louisiana's first major election since lawmakers changed the state's primary system from an open or jungle primary to close party primaries.

Despite those changes, voters will still weigh in on numerous elections, including contentious Senate race.

That Senate race has pitted incumbent Senator Bill Cassidy against two fellow Republicans, U.S.

Representative Julia Lo and State Treasurer John Fleming.

Cassidy has faced political headwinds since voting to convict President Donald Trump during his second impeachment trial, a decision that sparked criticism from many Republican voters in Louisiana.

Recent polls show the race remains competitive heading into the party primaries, from energy policy and coastal restoration to the cost of living.

Louisiana's U.S.

Senate race is shaping up as a battle over the state's future.

I would say what makes me different is I'm not a career politician.

I never saw this coming, but I think with my background in education, I am so willing to learn and listen and hear from the Louisiana people who want change for this state.

I was in Congress for eight years.

I was in the Trump administration for four years, and I've been, of course, treasurer for the state of Louisiana for two and a half years.

And what sets me apart is I'm far more conservative since I've been a senator.

I have delivered, for example, $13.5 billion coming for infrastructure spending that has increased our roads, has improved our roads, our bridges, that is going to decrease our risk of flooding, that is going to rebuild our coastline.

Three Republican candidates, three very different visions for Louisiana.

Incumbent Senator Bill Cassidy is defending his record in Washington.

U.S.

Representative Julia Low entered the race with President Trump's support, and State Treasurer John Fleming is running as a conservative outsider.

We asked all three candidates the same questions about the key issues facing Louisiana voters.

Energy policy is expected to be a major issue in this race, including carbon capture projects and data centers.

Frankly, it's unnecessary.

It's very expensive.

It's taxpayer cost.

So I'm totally opposed to carbon capture with sequestration.

AI is something in the future.

It's already here and we're going to see a lot more.

But there needs to be a net benefit to the community, which means jobs.

And they need to give back energy and give back water.

One thing you don't want is somebody in Washington, D.C., saying thumbs up or thumbs down.

It should be the people who are governed data centers, again, same sort of thing.

But I will point out that the data center in northeast Louisiana, the meta, has committed to not raising utility rates for those who live in the area, and it's brought in lots of jobs.

My position on carbon capture is is simple.

If a project is not safe, if it's not transparent, and if it does not have community by in, then it should not move forward.

And then as far as the meta data center goes, data centers in general.

We recently had the meta data center announcement up in northeast Louisiana, where I'm originally from.

My goodness, what is shot in the arm that has been for Richland Parish.

And I really believe that meta has done a great job of truly partnering with the community.

And gas remains the foundation of Louisiana's economy.

But the candidates disagree on how the state should balance traditional energy with future growth.

We're going to need natural gas and oil for a long time, which means we'll continue to drill in the Outer continental shelf, creating incredible revenue for our state.

But you can also look at wind energy.

There are people in south Louisiana building the boats that are helping to support the development of offshore wind.

So those are the sorts of things we should be doing in our state.

I will always protect our own gas workers.

My goodness, they are the lifeblood of Louisiana.

We know best how to unleash domestic energy production right here in the Gulf of America.

It is so huge for our state and how we truly are fueling not only the country, but the world.

I'm all for all comprehensive approach to creating energy.

Texas has divested away from just oil and gas.

They've gotten into many other sorts of technologies, such as advanced manufacturing.

And so we really need to diversify our economy like Texas has done.

Meanwhile, we need to lower the cost of insurance, particularly commercial insurance.

For many voters, the biggest issue is not industry policy, but the cost of daily life.

I think that we need to do even more in terms of cutting taxes, reducing taxes across the board, not just for wealthy companies, but also for working class people.

We're doing really good with natural gas.

We need to do even better with oil.

One way you do that is you make it easier to build a pipeline.

Secondly, we in Louisiana refine oil from other places, so we need to improve or increase the amount of importation of that all.

I'm all for deregulation, making sure that we can produce that old gas right here as well.

But we also had some amazing wins in the one big beautiful bill, the biggest working family tax cut in history.

Coastal restoration remains one of Louisiana's long term priorities in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which I helped negotiate, which my opponents oppose.

There is $3 billion in that bill to help rebuild coastline in areas that have been hit by natural disasters in the previous six years.

I've worked hard to increase the amount of money coming from development of well and gas resources in the Outer Continental shelf.

I've been able to work with others to increase the portion that we are getting, and so we'll have more money in the future to help rebuild our coastline.

The federal government has to help us out with this, so we definitely need money provided for that purpose through the Corps of Engineers and other things.

We have to do things with the Mississippi River and the ports, the estuaries, all of this.

And it's really an interlocking type of system, as you know, with all of these things interacting with each other.

And so we've got to be very scientific about this and very objective and make the steps that are going to maintain the coastline where it is and even strengthen it in some places.

So I've already been really active on this front, being in appropriators in the House of Representatives, working on wetlands, protecting our wetlands, making sure that they have funding there.

And I've just been learning as much as I possibly can so that we do have the funding there again on appropriations, making sure the Corps is placed up to where it needs to be so that they can definitely be working on those projects and not lagging behind.

Finally, we asked each candidate what they say voters should hold them accountable for that.

I work for them that that this is not my seat.

It's the people's seat.

And I will never forget that.

They can always count on me to to trust them and and to listen to them first before I make any decision and before I cast any vote.

You know, I promise that that I'm going to do everything I can to improve health care, improve our spending practices in Washington, eventually get our budget under control, and have a balanced budget.

And I may not be able to achieve that by myself, but I want to be held accountable for doing everything possible to make that happen.

Representing them, having the courage to stand up even when people criticize because it's easy to vote no, hardly anybody criticizes.

But it's harder to vote your convictions knowing that when you vote your convictions, you may get criticized, but it's good for the state of Louisiana.

The race remains highly competitive as all three candidates continue making their case across Louisiana, and ultimately, voters will decide which vision they want to send back to the United States Senate.

Three Democrats are also running, setting up a crowded field in one of the state's most high profile races.

And in contrast to the heated Republican campaigns, the three Democrats have toured the state together several cities on their Democratic roadshow to get their messages out.

The three Democrat Senate candidates are considered long shots in the Senate race, and say their views will resonate with Louisiana voters.

Native New Orleanians Nick Alvarez is a graduate of Notre Dame with a masters from Georgetown.

He spent nearly 20 years in the policy.

Arena says his campaign focuses on delivering results for working families by expanding access to health care, strengthening local schools and creating new economic opportunities.

I consider myself the best candidate because I am ready to go on day one.

So I worked for Governor Edwards, and we fought to bring health coverage to hundreds of thousands of Louisianans.

And I was on the front lines protecting health coverage for Louisianans in the state legislature.

When I worked as an adviser to the governor.

I've written legislation, I've worked committee rooms, and I know how to get things done.

I'm also rooted in community.

I live in Gentilly in New Orleans with my wife and three kids, and I have focused on advocacy and organizing in our communities throughout my career, working alongside nonprofit organizations.

Alvarez says that if elected, he'll work to maintain jobs in Louisiana's energy industry while pushing to introduce more economic growth through clean energy.

Energy prices are going up, up and up.

We've seen since the war in Iran began, gas prices go up 40%.

Now we need to make sure that we have the renewable energy jobs here in Louisiana, because what we've seen is a pendulum swing from administration to administration.

We have a robust energy infrastructure.

And if we invest in the jobs of the future in the clean energy transition, then we can ensure that these energy jobs are preserved in Louisiana, and we can make sure that we have a robust energy economy.

He also says he'd work to put more money in the hands of Louisiana families.

Number one, I would reverse the cuts to Medicaid that were put in place so that people can still have affordable health coverage.

Number two, I would more than double the minimum wage, which sits at 725 an hour, and I would index it to inflation so that it would go up automatically.

I would also work to pass the Fresh Food Act, which would provide grocery stores in underserved areas.

I would double the child tax credit, which when we had that enhanced child tax credit, it cut child poverty in half.

Third generation farmer Jamie Davis, from Tinsel Parish, is also in the running for the Democratic spot on the ballot.

He says his life experiences help reach rural voters who often don't feel represented by other candidates.

Why would you say you consider yourself the best candidate for this job?

Number one is because I have more lived experience to.

I've been elected before and sworn the oath.

Three I am a rule candidate that can reach candidates that the others can.

Davis says he has concerns about new industries like carbon capture and sequestration moving into Louisiana and the pace at which they're being approved.

The big one for me is the eminent domain, and I'm a farmer, and nobody is coming to take my land.

And I don't like the idea that we don't have enough research on carbon capture.

And it just frightens me to have a life built into something.

And you have that capture pipeline running through your property, and the leak is anywhere near anybody.

You don't want something like that when you don't have to have it.

When asked about the cost of living in Louisiana, Davis says his first goal would be to improve the cost of health care.

You have to make life more affordable for people, and you start with insurance.

Health care insurance is out the roof with my own, with myself personally.

My subsidy went away and my health insurance went from 680 plus dollars to right at $1,500.

1480 plus dollars.

So that's one thing we can do is by bringing back the ACA subsidies.

When it comes to high insurance costs for homeowners insurance.

Well, you know, you give homeowners the opportunity with the fortified roofs that will help lower their income, their insurance costs.

What do you want voters to say after you've served in the Senate?

I want them to say that James was a working man, and he legislated for working people, because Louisiana deserves a state that we all can't afford, because everything I've gotten had to work for with these hands.

And that's the kind of senator that I will be.

The final candidate on the Democratic side is Gary Crockett, a 24 year Navy veteran and entrepreneur who owns several businesses.

I was born in North Louisiana, and I now live in South Louisiana, so I've had the best of both worlds.

I lived in the rural areas as well as down south, but I'm also a 24 year retired Navy veteran, business owner of four companies and a leader of men, which I've done for over 24 years.

What would you say to the voters who are undecided right now?

They're not sure.

I would say to them that don't vote an R&D vote for the right person.

Right now, Louisiana really needs help in many ways, and our current leadership has led us down.

I'm an outsider.

I'm now part of the establishment like my opponents are.

But one way or the other, I'm someone that is coming with practical solutions that everyone can live with.

Crockett says his military service sets him apart as a disciplined, practical leader.

One of his top priorities is helping Louisiana families make ends meet by reducing the cost of food and insurance.

One of the things across the board we need to have a federal moratorium on tax on food.

That would help immediately, because most people who have a affordability problem also have to spend every dollar that they make, and 10% of that on the average is going just toward food.

So 10% of what they're spending on food will come right back into their pockets just on that.

In addition to that, it's time that we put in some controls and also make big companies pay their fair share.

Okay.

Well, insurance costs are big in Louisiana, one of the highest in the in the country.

What do you think we could do to bring down insurance?

One, we need a true public option.

It's one thing to partner with insurance companies and invite them to come into our environment, which in turn, they also give us a hard time when we have a claim.

If we had a public option, it would make things more competitive in Louisiana as well, and also help to shore up some of the issues that we have.

Some of those interviews were edited for time and clarity.

You can see the full interviews with all six Senate candidates by heading to our YouTube page at youtube.com.

And voters statewide will also weigh in on several constitutional amendments.

The proposed changes cover a range of topics, from teacher pay to removing civil service protections for state employees.

I sat down with Barry Erwin from leaders for a Better Louisiana to break down all of the five amendments.

Joining me now is Barry Erwin.

He's the chief policy officer for leaders for Better Louisiana.

He's here to speak about the constitutional amendments on Louisiana's May ballot.

How are you?

I'm doing great.

Thanks.

Well, amendment one gives lawmakers more thought to decide which jobs are classified.

An unclassified.

How would this impact the state employees?

Well, quite a bit if it passes.

Most of the employees we have in the state are classified, which means they have certain job protections, but also some restrictions kind of on what they can do in their jobs, unclassified or basically employees that work at will, sort of like they do in the private sector.

We often think of them as being political appointees, but that's not always the case.

I think the big deal is, again, there are some protections that classified employees have, which are the vast majority of the state workforce, and the unclassified people tend to work for the governor's office, agencies that, you know, they can fire them and hire them at will.

This would be a big change.

And given that power, which is pretty broad to the legislature.

Amendment two is for funding for the Saint George Parish School system will change if this passes.

Well, the area of Saint George for viewers around the state is in Southeast Baton Rouge, a series of neighborhoods around there.

For a long time, that area wanted to have its own school district.

Basically, it couldn't do that because the legislature has said historically that if we're going to create new school districts, they need to be within a municipality, a boundary of a city.

So the Saint George City, the city of Saint George now exists.

And now that city wants to have a school district all of its own, just like we have in this area with Baker, Zachary, Central Monroe and North Louisiana.

This would give them the authority to do that.

The key about this is, is that for voters to approve this, it has to pass statewide because it's a constitutional amendment, but it also has to pass in East Baton Rouge Parish.

So it's got to pass in both of those situations.

Well, Louisiana teachers are some of the lowest paid in the country.

Amendment three is for funding for teacher pay raises.

What are the financial trade offs if something like that passes?

This is kind of a big one too.

We have some trust funds that exist right now for education that total about $2 billion.

There's three of them in particular, and they spin off money every year for a variety of educational things in both higher ed and K through 12 education.

What this seeks to do is eliminate those trust funds about $2 billion.

Use the money from that to pay off debt in the teachers retirement system, which all our retirement systems have debt.

This would pay off a large amount of debt in the teacher retirement system.

That would generate savings for local school districts who have to pay.

It's not really a tax, but it's kind of like a tax to try and get through that debt and to pay it down.

It would save them about 200 plus million dollars a year.

And then this amendment says that savings that the local school districts, you know, get would then have to be applied to pay raises for teachers.

Now, we've been kind of going gears to year with a pay stipend for the last three years of about $2,000 per teacher.

This would make that permanent, but it would also increase a little bit to 2250 instead of 2000.

So teachers would get a pay raise.

But these big trust funds that we have for education would go away.

Okay.

Amendment four for property tax exemptions for businesses.

How do you feel about that?

Who will stand to benefit?

Well, this is one where, you know, we've done some major tax reform in the last couple of years.

One of the pieces that Louisiana has wanted to do is get rid of or do something with the business inventory tax.

So that's kind of like the name implies it's a property tax on, you know, inventory that you have, whether it's cars at a car dealership or oil sitting in a someplace at a chemical place.

That is kind of a tax that most states do not have.

It's so it's been seen as kind of a tax that makes us less competitive.

It's very hard to get rid of it, however, because a lot of our local areas, not all of them, but particularly in the industrial sector, like in the river parishes and then in a lot of urban areas, they generate a lot of local money.

It's all local money from these particular business property taxes.

And amendment five will raise the aid for the judge.

Mandatory retirement from 70 to 75.

How will that change things?

About 31 states put limits on, you know, judges or whatever for age limits.

We would be raising ours.

We would still kind of be in the mainstream, but it would definitely make a difference for a certain number of judges out there.

Okay.

Our guest is Barry Erwin, explaining some of the amendments on the May election ballot.

Johnny just touched on the Saint George School District amendment, which would create a separate school system in the city of Saint George.

While the proposal would directly impact East Baton Rouge Parish, voters across Louisiana will help decide its future.

Here's a look at the debate over creating a Saint George school district, and what both sides say is at stake in the heart of East Baton Rouge Parish.

The fight over a new school system is playing out not just in courtrooms and hearing rooms, but on front porches and neighborhood streets.

Darius Landis, a member of the East Baton Rouge Parish School Board, is going door to door outside Glen Oaks Magnet High School urging voters to reject Constitutional Amendment Number two, the ballot measure that would clear the way for a Saint George school system.

It's tremendous 25% of our of our jobs gone overnight.

Landis says the impact would be felt across five public schools that could fall inside a new Saint George system, along with hundreds of employees who work there.

According to parish schools, those five schools employ about 478 people, ranging from 67 at Shenandoah Elementary to 141 at Woodlawn High.

Lance says the impact goes beyond jobs to how teachers are paid and how they retire.

So when you go to Saint George and say you want to go to the school and work in Saint George is not guaranteed, you're going to make the same amount of money, which is going to affect your teacher retirement, which is also going to affect your pension, and it's going to affect your ability to take care of yourselves and your families.

That debate over jobs and benefits is tied to legislation passed in Baton Rouge last year.

In 2025.

Lawmakers approved a bill that put the question of a Saint George school district before voters.

Lawmakers say that measure addressed how a new district would handle retirement and benefit cost if it were created.

This bill provides for retirement costs, related benefits, costs and the apportioned part that Saint George will pay its fair share.

And we think that we have, through a trust fund that's been established in the bill that will provide for the collections of the dollars that make certain that the legacy cost recovers.

But questions remain about how much money would leave the existing school system.

Evers school officials estimate a new Saint George district would shift nearly $94 million in local tax revenue out of the current system, along with up to $20 million in state education funding.

We're talking about over $100 million and is devastated to our general budget in the kids and families that we serve all across our parish.

Supporters of the plan say those concerns don't match their financial outlook.

At a recent press conference, Saint George Mayor Dustin Yates defended the proposal.

We have rigorously crunched the numbers in our financial foundation is rock solid.

In fact, it is so strong that I'm proud to announce today that when Constitutional Amendment two passes, we are going to move to lower taxes for our citizens.

You heard that right.

Better schools, local control, lower taxes.

Yates did not detail how those tax reductions would be implemented, but said the city plans to release its full financial analysis.

He also responded to criticisms over equity and demographics.

The Saint George School system day one will be a majority minority district.

Those are the demographic facts.

State data shows about 5800 students living in Saint George attend East Baton Rouge Parish schools.

Of those, about 47% are black, 30% are white, 12% are Asian, and 11% are Hispanic.

Under the proposed framework, many students could remain in their current schools through a grandfather clause, while future access to magnet programs would depend on agreements between both systems.

That uncertainty over where students attend school is one reason both sides say some families may still turn to private schools, even if a new district is created.

If it were to be created, they would have 180 days to design a fully functional school district.

That is nearly impossible to do when you have to get buildings.

How your teachers figure out H.R., get a school board, get a superintendent.

That is a daunting task.

Once the governor appoints the first school board and superintendent, they will follow the same path as our city.

They will work with our community to ensure our community gets the educational system.

They deserve the very best.

The debate over Saint George has been years in the making, and for many in the parish, it goes far beyond school boundaries.

It touches on taxes, equity, governance and the future of public education in East Baton Rouge.

Well, that's our show for this week.

Remember, you can watch anything LPB anytime, wherever you are with our LPB app.

And you can get LPB news and public affairs shows, as well as other Louisiana programs that you've come to enjoy over the years.

And please like us on Facebook and Instagram for everyone at Louisiana Public Broadcasting, I'm Christina Jensen and I'm Johnny Atkinson.

Until next time.

That's the state we're in.

Support for Louisiana.

The state we're in is provided by Entergy.

Louisiana is strengthening our power grid throughout the state.

We're reinforcing infrastructure to prepare for stronger storms, reduce outages, and respond quicker when you do need us because together we power life.

Additional support provided by the Fred B and Ruth B Ziegler Foundation and the Ziegler Art Museum.

Located in Jennings City Hall, the museum focuses on emerging Louisiana artists and is a historical and cultural center for Southwest Louisiana and by Visit Baton Rouge and the Foundation for Excellence in Louisiana Public Broadcasting.

And viewers like you.

Thank you.