Julia Letlow will become Louisiana’s first Republican woman elected to the U.S. Senate, and only the second woman ever elected to the office, after voters handed her a narrow 51% victory Tuesday night. The win comes even as Democrats seized control of both the House and Senate nationwide, flipping chambers that Republicans had held since 2024. Louisiana itself flipped no seats, but several races landed within a few hundred votes, and two congressional districts will head to December run-offs.
For East Baton Rouge voters, the night looked different from the statewide map: Democrat Jamie Davis carried the parish with 64% of the vote, while Letlow’s support concentrated elsewhere. Davis trailed Letlow statewide by more than 25,000 votes. Letlow, of Monroe, takes the seat vacated by Senator Bill Cassidy, who lost in the Republican primary earlier this year.
Letlow’s 51% Win Masks a Parish-by-Parish Divide
Statewide, 51% of Louisiana voters chose Letlow, while Davis collected the remainder. In East Baton Rouge, however, Davis won 64%, a gap that shows how the capital region split from the rest of the state.
Ten Amendments, Ten Different Verdicts
Louisiana voters faced ten constitutional amendments, and they approved seven while rejecting three. The margins varied sharply, and East Baton Rouge broke from the state on three of them.
Amendment 1, which lets the surviving spouse of a deceased veteran with a service-connected disability transfer an additional property tax exemption to a new qualifying property, passed with 74% statewide and 63% in East Baton Rouge. It takes effect January 1, 2027. Amendment 3, barring post-conviction bail for defendants convicted of aggravated offenses against a minor child, won 68% statewide and 56% in EBR; aggravated offenses in Louisiana include rape, kidnapping, sexual battery and trafficking.
Amendment 4, prohibiting anyone who has served one and a half terms as governor from seeking the office again, passed 56% statewide, with 53% support in EBR. Amendment 6, letting parishes extend an additional homestead property tax exemption to residents aged 65 or older who qualify for the special assessment level, passed statewide at 66% but failed in East Baton Rouge by just 287 votes. The change applies to tax years beginning on or after January 1, 2028. Amendment 9, raising the income cap for the special assessment level from $100,000 to $150,000 with inflation adjustments starting in 2028, passed 58% statewide but was rejected in EBR, where 54% voted no.
The three rejected amendments drew clearer opposition. Amendment 2, on local millage rates, failed 58% statewide and 67% in EBR. Amendment 5, which would have let the state retirement system carry unfunded liabilities instead of paying down the oldest first, lost 62% statewide and 66% in EBR.
Amendment 7, permitting local governments to use public funds to replace drinking water service lines even on private property, passed 65% statewide and 69% in EBR. Amendment 8, prohibiting expropriation of property by a foreign adversary, passed 62% statewide, though East Baton Rouge rejected it by a margin of 1,410 votes.
Congressional Races: Two Run-offs Set for December
In the House, incumbent Democrat Troy Carter Sr. cruised to re-election in the redrawn District 2, which now includes most of Baton Rouge, taking 77% of the district vote and 91% in EBR. Republican Peter Williams drew 17%. In District 6, covering suburbs like St. George, Zachary and Central, no candidate reached a majority, so Democrat Chauna Banks and Republican Blake Miguez will meet in a December run-off; Banks led Miguez by 665 votes, and EBR voters favored Banks 25% to Miguez’s 12%. District 5, vacated by Letlow’s Senate run, also goes to a December run-off between Democrat Pat Moore, who took 18%, and Republican Gabe Firment at 17%.
East Baton Rouge Re-elects Hillar Moore III
Locally, East Baton Rouge voters returned Democrat Hillar Moore III as 19th Judicial District Court District Attorney with 58% of the vote, a 16-point margin over Democrat Ryan Thompson. Moore has held the office since 2009.
Every Parish Shifted Toward Democrats
What remains unanswered is whether those December run-offs in Districts 5 and 6 will hold the Democratic lean that East Baton Rouge showed Tuesday, or whether the statewide Republican margins from the Senate race will carry through when turnout drops.
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