SAVE
largest selection & lowest prices on wine, spirits & beer SAVE
1
6
$ 00
THC
$ 00
LB
— ONLY —
24 PACK 12 OZ
24
$
— ONLY —
— ONLY —
49
LB
30
$
1.75 LITER
Tito’s Vodka
Miller Lite, Coors Light, Bud Light or Yuengling
99
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750 ML SELECTED
Apothic Wine
9
$ 99
— ONLY —
750 ML
11
$
99
LIMIT 3
Fireball Cinnamon or Blazin’ Apple Whiskey
— ONLY —
1.75 LITER
22
$
Bacardi Superior or Gold Rum
99
— ONLY —
4 PACK 12 OZ
Veri Tropical THC Seltzer
1099
$
Prices good at all Baton Rouge, Zachary, Gonzales and Prairieville stores October 29th - November 5th, 2025.
THE
ADVOCATE T H E A D V O C AT E.C O M
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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
T h u r s d ay, O c T O b e r 30, 2025
$2.00X
2025 LEGISLATURE
SPECIAL SESSION
Election delay approved As session ends, big redistricting battles could be on horizon
Finalists revealed in LSU president search Candidates outline visions for university
BY CHRISTOPHER CARTWRIGHT Staff writer
STAFF PHOTOS By JAVIER GALLEGOS
Senate President Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, speaks during a news conference alongside House Speaker Phillip DeVillier, R-Eunice, at the State Capitol on Wednesday after the end of the special session. BY ALYSE PFEIL Staff writer
The Louisiana Legislature concluded business and left the Capitol on Wednesday, and when it next returns, lawmakers could be stepping into a bitter partisan fight over Loui-
siana’s congressional map. All eyes are now on the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, a potentially watershed voting-rights and redistricting case, which could come as early as this year or as late as next summer. During a special session
ä Virginia Democrats advance redistricting amendment. PAGE 7A that ended Wednesday, the GOP-controlled Legislature approved a plan to delay Louisiana’s new closed party pri-
mary elections for U.S. House and Senate by one month from April to May. Republican leaders said they want the extra month to see if a Supreme Court decision in the Callais case comes down
ä See ELECTION, page 4A
Landry: La. will cover most food stamp benefits BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN Staff writer
Louisiana’s state government will pay to ensure most federal food stamp recipients continue to receive money for groceries if the shutdown in Washington, D.C., continues, Gov. Jeff Landry announced Wednesday. But 53,000 able-bodied adults are unlikely to be covered under the state’s plan, which prioritizes the elderly, people with disabilities and households with children. “Our priorities are very specific.
ä LSU FOOTBALL: Landry says AD Woodward isn’t picking the next coach. PAGE 4A We are going to protect the most vulnerable population in Louisiana, which is our kids, our elderly and the disabled,” Landry said. “We’re going to lead the nation in the way we take care of people.” Landry encouraged those the state doesn’t cover to look for work at
Gov. Jeff Landry speaks during a news conference
ä See BENEFITS, page 4A at the State Capitol on Wednesday.
One is a former president of the University of Arizona. Another is an executive vice president at the University of Alabama. The third is a Louisiana native who became president of McNeese State University last year. These three men are now finalists to be the 29th president of LSU, after the school’s Presidential Search Committee winnowed down a field of five Wednesday during a day of interviews. Dr. Robert Robbins, former University of Arizona president; James Dalton, executive vice president and provost at the University of Alabama, and current McNeese State President Wade Rousse will be interviewed by the full LSU Board of Supervisors during its Tuesday meeting, when the next president will be chosen. Before then, each candidate will spend a day at town halls across campus, engaging with students, faculty and staff. The 20-person committee unanimously voted for Dalton, while Robbins and Rousse each received 14 votes. Interim LSU President Mike Lee received nine votes, and Dr. Giovanni Piedimonte, former vice president of research at Tulane University, received no votes. The new president will inherit a sprawling land-grant university system with around 41,700 students, 1,400 faculty and a roughly $1.1 billion endowment. They also will be thrust into a sea of important decisions. The next president will join during the hiring of a new football coach, following Brian Kelly’s firing after the Tigers’ 49-25 loss to Texas A&M last Saturday. They also will have to navigate the suspension of federal funding, which has impacted Pennington Biomedical Research Center. There are also plans for a new proposed 15,000-seat arena. The committee asked several
ä See SEARCH, page 5A
ICE detainee at Angola sent to Laos, despite citizenship claims Agency violated La. judge’s order, ACLU says
BY MEGHAN FRIEDMANN
zen, to Laos, where he is in custody, according to the Louisiana American Civil Liberties Union. Because of that claim, Judge U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has sent a 44-year-old Shelly Dick of the Middle District Louisiana Lockup detainee, who a Court of Louisiana issued a temjudge has said has a “substantial porary order on Oct. 23 blocking claim” to being an American citi- the government from sending
Staff writer
WEATHER HIGH 67 LOW 43 PAGE 6B
Chanthila Souvannarath out of the country. But the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, says it sent Souvannarath to Laos before the order came down. Souvannarath, who was born in a refugee camp in Thailand, received lawful permanent residence in the United States as a
baby, Dick wrote in her court decision. Souvannarath said that, because his father became a naturalized citizen, and because he entered his father’s sole custody at 13, he met the requirements for derivative citizenship and has been a U.S. citizen since childhood, according to the order.
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The order says the government is “immediately prohibited from removing” Souvannarath from the United States or from the jurisdiction of the Middle District, which covers the Baton Rouge region. “This is what happens when you disappear people to notorious,
ä See DETAINEE, page 5A
101ST yEAR, NO. 122