Special Election Scheduled for Louisiana House District

The U.S. House seat in Louisiana’s 1st District, soon to be vacated by Republican Governor-elect Bobby Jindal , will be filled in a special election process that will begin with party primaries on March 8 and end with a general election that almost certainly will be held on May 3. The election is unlikely to produce any shift in the partisan balance of power in the House, as the heavily Republican district is strongly favored to stay in that party’s hands.

Retiring Democratic Gov. Kathleen Babineaux Blanco — whom two-term House incumbent Jindal will succeed after winning Louisiana’s off-year election for governor on Oct. 20 — issued a proclamation Tuesday that set the election schedule, which also includes an April 5 primary runoff date if no one wins a majority vote in one or both parties in the March 8 first-round vote.

The proclamation includes a proviso that the general election would be held April 5 instead of May 3 if no runoffs are necessary. But a runoff is almost sure to be needed on the Republican side, given the long list of candidates who are expected to pursue that party’s nomination.

The candidate qualifying period for the contest runs from January 29 to 31.

Jindal previously stated that he will resign his House seat Jan. 14, the same day he will be inaugurated as governor. His easy victory this year over a field that included 11 other candidates of all party affiliations entitles him to assume the office that he narrowly lost to Blanco in the 2003 state election.