Jeff Landry, the Republican front runner, takes two questions — refusing to take a question from our paper—in a brief presser before he qualified for governor. #lalege #lagov “Everyone knows who I am,” Landry says, adding that he’s been subjected to “nauseating” questions from the media in his nearly 8 years as attorney general. Unlike all the other candidates, Landry entered and left through a side door and spoke before qualifying #lalege #lagov

Quick thread of some key moments in the court case over Louisiana's abortion ban, which is currently blocked while the legal challenge plays out: Lawyers for the abortion providers argued the state's law is too vague. It's unclear which penalties apply to people who run afoul of the ban, and doctors are unsure "how close to death a patient must be" to legally perform an abortion to save their life.

News: A federal judge has ruled Louisiana's Republican-led Legislature must redraw the proposed Congressional map to include an additional majority-minority district. Appeals expected. #lalege #lagov Republican legislative leaders believe the 5th circuit will step in quickly to stay the opinion.

Qualifying for the congressional elections is July 30th, but the primary election is technically not till November because of Louisiana's unique election system. #lalege #lagov

The House is resuming its work, after some jockeying over whether they were going to allow bills to be heard after the 82nd day (requires a 2/3 vote). Republicans garner enough votes to overpower Democrats on a vaccine bill, allowing it to be heard 76-23. #lalege #lagov And Republicans appear to retaliate against Dems for opposing Frieman's bill. Seabaugh asks Tammy Phelps how she voted on the Frieman motion, before Republicans kill the motion to hear her bill on a 37-65 vote. #lalege #lagov

Folks, what are your favorite pieces of longform journalism in 2021, so I can read them over the holidays. I'll start with a couple I really liked: nytimes.com/2021/06/02/mag… Also this: newyorker.com/magazine/2021/…

Boot up Maybe the ugliest court I’ve ever seen

Louisiana lawmakers are holding the first hearing of a committee tasked with exploring legalizing recreational marijuana. You can watch it here: legis.la.gov/legis/video.as… #lalege #lagov We're hearing testimony warning legalization will lead to a bunch of negative effects, like increased traffic fatalities, etc. Here's some fact-checking I did on this earlier this year theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/ne… #lalege #lagov

.⁦@SteveScalise⁩,
⁦@AGJeffLandry⁩, ⁦@LouisianaLtGov⁩ are all here for the meeting of a task force that aims to close Louisiana’s open primary system. They’ll consider a resolution to do that today. #lalege #lagov The draft resolution would only call for closing congressional primaries, not statewide races. Will be interested to hear what @AGJeffLandry thinks about this. #lalege #lagov

Trump supporters apparently upset with the outcome of the presidential election are rallying at the Louisiana state Capitol. Speaker mentioned “watermarked ballots” and says “don’t give up” #lalege #lagov Signs say “Biden=communism” and “stop the steal.” All major networks and Fox News have called the race for president-elect Joe Biden. #lalege #lagov

Shell is shuttering a Louisiana refinery that employs hundreds because it wants to "invest in a core set of uniquely integrated manufacturing sites that are also strategically positioned for the transition to a low-carbon future." #lalege #lagov theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/ne… Here's the long decline in Louisiana's mining and logging (oil and gas production included) and manufacturing (petroleum refining included) sectors #lalege #lagov

House Speaker Clay Schexnayder has commissioned a poll he sent to Republican members on covid issues, including a mask mandate (76% yes, 17% no) and whether voters support the petition to end restrictions (61% no, 22% yes, 17% undecided) scribd.com/document/47004… #lalege #lagov Don't know if this is live caller or IVR, the poll doesn't say. It's Remington, which usually does a combo. Sample size is huge, 3,600. #lalege #lagov

.@Louisiana_sos in a state senate hearing says universal vote by mail has "massive vulnerabilities for fraud" and won't come to Louisiana under his watch. In fact, the risk for fraud with vote by mail is extremely low. #lalege #lagov @Louisiana_sos When Ardoin pushed to delay the elections last month, he said it would be "pretty impossible" to expand mail-in voting to everyone within two months. Now he cites fraud. (in the meantime Trump has come out against it, claiming fraud) #lalege #lagov