Politics

With House primary delay, Louisiana thrust into election chaos

Published

2 months ago

May 1, 2026

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry’s abrupt decision to postpone the state’s House primaries just days before voting was scheduled to begin has sent Republican officials scrambling.

Local election heads are convening open meetings to educate voters about the change, which Landry triggered immediately after the Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that its map was unconstitutional, blowing a hole in the Voting Rights Act. That’s giving Republicans the narrowest of windows to gerrymander one or two new seats before the 2026 midterms — and is leaving candidates guessing where they might be running.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed late Thursday challenging Landry’s ability to issue the sweeping emergency executive order threatens to further upend Louisiana’s election season. And the move only suspended the House races — meaning the rest of the primaries will continue on as scheduled, including the hotly contested Senate race, whether voters realize it or not.

“You have to move mountains to change the map to a constitutional one, and obviously shift the election,” said John Fleming, a Republican and former House Freedom Caucus member running for Senate. “It’s going to be tough.”

Matt Gromlich, a Democrat running in Louisiana’s 4th District, said he has had to pause his two-week early voting plan, and is considering taking legal action against the state. “It is completely anti-Democratic to cancel an election that has already begun,” he said.

As one Louisiana Republican strategist working on a House race, granted anonymity to speak freely about the fallout, put it: “It is an unmitigated shit show fever dream.”

Altogether, the chaos in Louisiana over the last few days underscores how the latest chapter of the redistricting wars will be defined by a complicated legal and political battle as both red and blue states race to draw new maps.

Landry on Thursday delayed House elections until at least mid-July, saying it was necessary to comply with the court’s ruling. All other races will proceed as normal, with early voting beginning on Saturday. Absentee ballots have already been sent out. But the governor’s decision means tremendous burdens will be placed on local election officials, placing significant administrative costs on the state and sowing confusion among voters.

“Imagine being a voter in Louisiana right now,” said David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, a nonpartisan nonprofit. “Imagine having looked at who you might want to vote for, educating yourself on the process, and all of that is thrown up in the air. Every voter in Louisiana right now doesn’t know whether this election is going to go on or not.”

Sen. Bill Cassidy, who is facing off against Fleming and Rep. Julia Letlow in a contentious, close Senate GOP primary, called Landry’s decision to proceed with other races as scheduled “disappointing.”

“Now, it’s up to all of us to help people understand what’s happening and make sure voters know how to cast their votes over the next two weeks,” Cassidy said in a statement.

Louisiana had already changed its election process this year by throwing out its jungle primary for a closed primary process to give parties more control over their nominees. Now, with the House primaries on hold, some Republicans are tossing around returning to the open primary system just for those races.

“It’s crazy and it’s confusing,” said Bryan Kelley, the Winn Parish registrar, who said he has been informing the community about the change and posting information flyers in voting locations. “Whatever the legislature and the legal people decide, we’ll figure out how to make it work in practice so that people can voice their opinions.”

“Everybody just take a deep breath, be calm and just wait and see how that plays out,” he said.

Democrats are warning that Louisiana previews how other GOP states will approach the midterms, given the last-minute opportunity to reshape their maps and scramble election timelines.

“What is happening in Louisiana right now is both a redistricting power grab and a dry run for authoritarian election subversion this fall,” said voting rights attorney Mark Elias.

Before the Court’s ruling, Louisiana Republicans were planning to draw out Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields from his district, shifting the delegation to consist of five Republicans and one Democrat. Now, Republicans are considering being even more aggressive. At least one map has been submitted to be reviewed by the state legislature that would create lines giving the GOP an edge in all six districts, though some of those seats would still likely be in play for Democrats. At risk is the elimination of all majority-minority districts in Louisiana, a state with a population that is one-third Black.

“I believe the district lines should be and will be drawn based on shared interests and regional commonalities,” said GOP Rep. Thomas Pressly. “I look forward to working with my colleagues to ensure that happens.”

In the meantime, House candidates are stuck in limbo, stretching their campaign cash further than expected and extending some brutal match-ups, like in Louisiana’s 5th District where seven Republicans are competing to replace Letlow as she runs for Senate.

At a press conference with the Congressional Black Caucus following the Court’s decision, Fields acknowledged that Louisiana GOP state lawmakers are targeting his district. “If you tell me that I got to jump a certain height, I could probably do that,” he said. “Tell me [if] I got to run a certain distance, I could probably do that too. But if you tell me I have to be white to serve in Congress from Louisiana, I can’t do nothing about that.”

Alec Hernández contributed reporting.

Politics

Belgian airline needles Spain ahead of World Cup quarterfinal

Published

21 minutes ago

July 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Red Devil-themed Jupiler beer cans, football-shaped Leonidas chocolates and sticker collectables at the Delhaize supermarket — Belgium is all on its World Cup run.

Even the country’s flag carrier, Brussels Airlines, has gotten in on the act.

In a tongue-in-cheek gesture, Brussels Airlines is flying its Trident aircraft, painted in the colors and bearing the emblems of Belgium’s national football teams, to Spanish destinations including Madrid and Barcelona ahead of Friday’s World Cup quarterfinal between Belgium and Spain.

Asked about the move, Brussels Airlines declined to elaborate, saying via email: “We did not provide any comments, as we think the joke speaks for itself :).”

The specially designed aircraft features a trident in reference to the Red Devils, Belgium’s men’s national football team, alongside flames representing the women’s team, the Red Flames.

According to Brussels Airlines, the design was intended to highlight both teams because “it’s high time that the women’s team gets as much attention as the men’s team.”

Iberia, Spain’s national airline, also has a specially designed aircraft that flew the country’s national football team across the Atlantic. Instead of tridents and flames, it features an image of Spain’s squad alongside the slogan: “A team takes off. A country flies.”

Politics

Trump refuses to sign landmark housing bill, taking aim at GOP

Published

46 minutes ago

July 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The bill is still expected to become law despite the president’s protest of congressional inaction over an unrelated elections bill…
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Politics

Spain’s post-separatist team

Published

51 minutes ago

July 10, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

Separatist politics have long spilled onto Spanish football pitches. In Catalonia, where nationalist sentiments run deep, clubs like FC Barcelona have historically served as powerful symbols of the pro-independence movement. Their matches have often become venues in which fans display separatist flags and placards, and at major games they’ve expressed their support for separatism by whistling while the Spanish national anthem is played and booing dignitaries like Spain’s King Felipe VI.

The national team, which plays a World Cup quarter-final match Friday against Belgium, has also found itself enmeshed in separatist controversy. But the political drama has largely been missing from this year’s squad.

In the nearly 9 years that have elapsed since the Catalan independence referendum, the pro-independence movement has lost steam and the region’s citizens have grown tired of the constant tension with the rest of Spain. Since regional elections were held in 2024, when nationalist parties failed to win a majority of seats for the first time since 1984, the Catalan government has since focused on normalizing relations with Madrid.

That shift is evident in football. While FC Barcelona remains the region’s most beloved team, it is today a much more international operation, a powerhouse with a commercial strategy that targets an international audience with global football stars like Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski.

They stand in contrast to figures like long-time Barcelona player Gerard Piqué, a much-decorated defender who was also a member of Spain’s national team.

When Piqué, who was born and raised in Barcelona, was first drafted to play on the national team, the Catalan separatist movement had not yet exploded, and the center back largely avoided publicly discussing Catalan independence. Indeed, after Spain won the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, he became a beloved figure across the country. Likewise, when he was drafted for the 2014 edition of the tournament in Brazil, he wasn’t associated with the growing push to separate Catalonia from Spain.

But in 2017 Piqué publicly declared his support for a proposed referendum on the region’s independence, and after the Spanish government moved to shut down the unauthorized vote, he criticized the violent crackdown that saw police deployed to polling stations. Although the footballer insisted that he was not a separatist, he stressed that Catalans should have a say in their future. “You should be able to vote yes, no, or abstain, but you should be able to vote,” he said at the time.

Piqué’s stance made him a controversial figure ahead of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. In the lead up to the tournament, he was verbally abused by spectators at training sessions, leading him to offer to drop out of the national team if he was determined to be too much of a distraction. He played, but announced his retirement from the group following Spain’s elimination from the tournament.

There’s no lack of Catalans on Spain’s current national team. The country’s biggest star, Lamine Yamal, plays for Barça and was born in a suburb of Barcelona, and he’s accompanied by eight other players born or raised in the region, among them Pau Cubarsí and Marc Cucurella.

While none of them are known for making pro-independence statements, three of them — Eric García, Dani Olmo, and Joan García — were recently embroiled in controversy after being photographed with a separatist symbol. After FC Barcelona won the Spanish league title last May, the players were seen waving esteladas — a flag associated with the Catalan independence movement — while parading through the regional capital. Although some conservatives called for them to not be included in the national team, all three were ultimately tapped to take part in this year’s tournament.