By Greg LaRose | Editor-in-Chief
State lawmakers convene at noon today for the start of their 2026 law-making session, with Gov. Jeff Landry delivering opening remarks. One of the top issues we’ll follow is the focus of our top story: closed primaries.
Voters talk outside a polling place at Edward Hynes Charter School in New Orleans’ Lakeview neighborhood on Nov. 8, 2022. (Greg LaRose/LAI)
By Julie O’Donoghue
The switch to party primaries is a radical change for Louisiana’s election system. In a jungle primary, registered voters, regardless of their party affiliation, are able to pick from all the candidates running in the election, regardless of the candidate’s or voter’s party affiliation.
Southeastern Louisiana University professor Fereshteh Emami, flanked by her attorney William Most, listens to testimony at a faculty grievance hearing Feb. 20, 2026, related to her removal from a Lake Maurepas research project. (Wes Muller/LAI)
By Wes Muller
A Southeastern Louisiana University faculty grievance committee has ruled against reinstating a chemistry professor who was abruptly removed last year from a high-profile research project examining pollution in Lake Maurepas.
The U.S. 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. (Christiana Botic/Verite News)
By Robert Stewart, Verite
Immigrants detained in Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas now have fewer ways to seek release while their cases are pending after a recent appellate court decision.
By Camden Doherty, Verite News
After layoffs and budget cuts, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette is weighing selling off some of its property to extinguish what remains of a $50 million budget shortfall.
COMMENTARY
By Greg LaRose
During his time as a state leader, Jeff Landry has managed to deftly maneuver around a massive political pitfall: dozens of lawsuits from coastal parishes against oil and gas companies that seek billions to address wetlands damage and land loss.
NEWS FROM THE STATES
Temporary data center bans draw more interest | Stateline
Officials: ICE detention centers will overwhelm infrastructure | PA Capital-Star
Governor vetoes Charlie Kirk license plate bill | AZ Mirror
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