YOUTH MOVEMENT PAYS OFF FOR SAINTS IN WIN OVER GIANTS 1C
N O L A.C O M
|
T u e s d ay, O c T O b e r 7, 2025
$2.00X
E LEC T ION 2025
Early voting turnout up significantly in N.O.
Shutdown threatens insurance subsidies Louisiana residents’ health care costs could increase significantly
BY EMILY WOODRUFF Staff writer
STAFF PHOTO By JOHN McCUSKER
Residents wait their turn to vote at the Algiers Courthouse on Sept. 27, the first day of early voting.
39,000 votes cast more than doubles number from eight years ago BY BLAKE PATERSON
16,500 people who did so eight years ago when the New Orleans mayor’s race lacked an incumbent, according to Turnout in early voting for New Or- preliminary data published by the Louleans’ Saturday election was more than isiana Secretary of State‘s Office. The double what it was for the city’s 2017 2025 number, which for now represents municipal primary, a sign of excite- more than 14% of the city’s registered ment among voters as they decide who voting population, should grow as more mail-in ballots are received. should lead the city next. “It indicates that one, people are enNearly 39,000 voters cast their ballots in person and via mail during the week- thusiastic about the election, and two, long early voting period that ended the campaigns were successful at getSaturday, far surpassing the more than ting their supporters to early vote,”
Staff writer
said Ed Chervenak, a political science professor at the University of New Orleans who compiled and analyzed the voter data. This year’s early voting turnout was larger than every New Orleans primary election with a mayor’s race going back to at least 2010, according to Chervenak. It easily eclipsed the roughly 23,900 ballots cast early in the 2021 primary, when Mayor LaToya Cantrell
ä See VOTING, page 4A
The federal government shut down last week, and at the heart of the standoff is a fight over the health insurance subsidies that keep coverage affordable for hundreds of thousands of Louisianans. These enhanced premium tax credits lower the monthly cost of health insurance for people who buy coverage through the Affordable Care Act marketplace. The enhanced subsidies were first “There’s no real introduced during other option at the pandemic under that point. If you the American Rescue can’t afford the Plan Act and later extended through 2025. premium on the exchange, you They allow some lowincome enrollees to probably then pay no monthly prejust become miums and cap costs uninsured.” for middle-income households at 8.5% KEVIN CALLISON, of their income. Tulane University If the subsidies health care expire at the end of economist the year, Louisiana would be hit harder than any other state, according to a new analysis from the Urban Institute. The state is projected to see the steepest decline in subsidized marketplace enrollment nationwide — a 61% drop, representing roughly 85,000 people losing coverage. Many people who lost Medicaid coverage during the recent unwinding qualified for marketplace subsidies, making it an easy transition, said Kevin Callison, a health care economist at Tulane University. Louisiana’s marketplace enrollment has grown from about 120,000 residents in
ä See SHUTDOWN, page 4A
5th Circuit will reconsider state’s 10 Commandments law Partial court had struck it down
and colleges to post the Ten Commandments in classrooms, setting the stage for a new round of arguments in the high-stakes case. In June, a three-judge panel of the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of ApBY PATRICK WALL Staff writer peals ruled that the law is “plainly unconstitutional” and cannot be A federal appeals court on Mon- enforced. But in a Monday eveday vacated an earlier ruling that ning order, the court agreed to a struck down Louisiana’s controver- request by Louisiana for the full sial law requiring public schools 5th Circuit to rehear the case, nul-
WEATHER HIGH 88 LOW 76 PAGE 6B
lifying the earlier ruling. The decision by a majority of judges on the court to reconsider the case could lead to a very different outcome than the panel’s ruling. Two of the three judges on the panel were appointed by Democrats, while 12 of 17 active judges on the full court were appointed by Republicans, with six selected by President Donald Trump. The full 5th Circuit is widely considered
the country’s most conservative federal court of appeals. In the meantime, a U.S. District Court’s preliminary injunction will stand, barring the state from enforcing the law. The Ten Commandments case has been closely watched as a test of the traditional divide between church and state, and legal observers say it’s likely that the U.S. Supreme Court ultimately will hear the case.
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
Wake up with me every morning.
wakeUP nola
Meteorologist
DAMON SINGLETON
Watch me every morning on NOLA.com
Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill said Monday that she looks forward to arguing the case before the full appeals court, known as an “en banc” hearing. “Glad to see the 5th Circuit is taking this en banc,” she said in a statement. The case, Roake v. Brumley, stems from a lawsuit by a group of
ä See LAW, page 5A
13TH yEAR, NO. 56