General Election, November 3, 2020
Louisiana held its general election on November 3, 2020, deciding the office of Public Service Commissioner District 5.
Highlights
- With no legislative seats on the ballot, Louisiana's statewide November vote came down to seven constitutional amendments, and the two that drew real campaigns went opposite ways: voters wrote anti-abortion language into the constitution and rejected a property-tax deal for manufacturers.
- Amendment 1 declares that the state constitution protects no right to abortion and no right to abortion funding. Backers pitched it as insurance: if the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, state judges could not find such a right in Louisiana's own constitution. Louisiana Right to Life said voters had mandated that state judges "can never use our Constitution to enshrine abortion."
- Amendment 5 would have let local governments negotiate payments in lieu of property taxes with new or expanding manufacturers, including the liquefied natural gas terminals going up in southwest Louisiana. Lawmakers had sent it to the ballot by lopsided votes, but it lost in all 64 parishes after Together Louisiana and teachers unions campaigned against it as corporate welfare. The National Education Association supplied most of the money for the main opposition group.
- Voters approved 5 of the 7 amendments. Besides Amendment 1, the winners let assessors count oil and gas production when valuing wells (Amendment 2), let lawmakers tap the rainy-day fund for declared disasters by a two-thirds vote (Amendment 3), raised the income cap for the senior property-tax freeze to $100,000 (Amendment 6), and created an Unclaimed Property Permanent Trust Fund (Amendment 7). Along with Amendment 5, voters also rejected Amendment 4, which would have capped yearly spending growth at 5% over the prior budget. In separate parish-by-parish votes, 56 of 64 parishes approved sports betting, leaving lawmakers to write the rules.
- Both Public Service Commission incumbents on the ballot won their final terms under term limits. In north Louisiana, Foster Campbell (D), first elected to the state Senate in 1976, beat Shane Smiley (R), a member of the Ouachita Parish Police Jury (the parish governing body), by about 6 points in District 5. In District 1, covering suburban New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Republican Eric Skrmetta led a crowded first round without a majority. He then won the December 5 runoff over Democrat Allen H. Borne Jr. by about 24 points. Borne had refused utility-company contributions and made the industry's campaign money his issue. The same December 5 ballot carried a constitutional amendment to let the governor appoint an out-of-state member to the University of Louisiana System board, and voters rejected it.
Legislature
- House (105 seats): 35 D, 68 R, 2 other or vacant before the election, 35 D, 68 R, 2 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (39 seats): 12 D, 27 R before the election, 12 D, 27 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Statewide races
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| Amendment 1 | Amends the constitution to declare that, to protect human life, nothing in the Louisiana Constitution shall be construed to secure or protect a right to abortion or require the funding of abortion. | Passed (62.06% yes) |
| Amendment 2 | Amends the constitution to permit the presence or production of oil or gas to be included in the method used to determine the fair market value of an oil or gas well for property tax assessment. | Passed (58.34% yes) |
| Amendment 3 | Amends the constitution to allow the Budget Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund) to be used for state costs associated with a federally declared disaster, and to deposit federal disaster reimbursements back into the fund. | Passed (55.34% yes) |
| Amendment 4 | Amends the constitution to limit annual growth of the expenditure limit for the state general fund and dedicated funds and to remove the calculation of its growth factor from the constitution, effective June 30, 2022. | Failed (44.24% yes) |
| Amendment 5 | Amends the constitution to authorize local governments to enter cooperative endeavor agreements granting property tax exemptions to new or expanding manufacturing establishments in exchange for payments in lieu of taxes. | Failed (37.33% yes) |
| Amendment 6 | Amends the constitution to raise the maximum income a homeowner may have and still qualify for the special assessment level that freezes the assessed value of a homestead receiving the homestead exemption. | Passed (62.16% yes) |
| Amendment 7 | Amends the constitution to create the Louisiana Unclaimed Property Permanent Trust Fund to preserve money that remains unclaimed by its owners, effective July 1, 2021. | Passed (64.32% yes) |
Runoffs, December 5, 2020
Louisiana held runoffs on December 5, 2020, deciding the office of Public Service Commissioner District 1.
Legislature
- House (105 seats): 35 D, 68 R, 2 other or vacant before the election, 35 D, 68 R, 2 other or vacant after; control stayed with Republicans.
- Senate (39 seats): 12 D, 27 R before the election, 12 D, 27 R after; control stayed with Republicans.
Statewide races
Ballot measures
| Measure | Description | Result |
|---|
| Amendment 1 | Amends the constitution to allow the governor to appoint a person who lives outside Louisiana as an at-large member of a public postsecondary education board of supervisors. | Failed (23.53% yes) |