Legislative Margins Narrow

Democrats will hold a slimmer majority in the Louisiana House when the Legislature convenes in January, as Republicans picked up seven seats in the fall election to give them 50 in the 105-member chamber. Democrats will have 53 seats in the House, far short of the two-thirds needed to pass taxes and constitutional amendments or override a veto. Two representatives listed their party affiliation as “independent.” The Senate lineup remains the same, with 24 Democrats and 15 Republicans as every senator seeking re-election won.The incoming Legislature will include nine House members who won election to the Senate due to term limitations. Two former senators who were term limited in the upper chamber were elected to the House. Eight House members who could not seek re-election lost bids for Senate seats. Two House members lost their re-election attempts.