LA. AT THE DERBY: BERNHARDS HAVE TWO HORSES RUNNING 1C
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S at u r d ay, M ay 2, 2026
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Early voting opens amid uncertainty
Ballot includes contentious U.S. Senate election, constitutional amendments but no U.S. House races
BY MATTHEW ALBRIGHT Staff writer
A seismic U.S. Supreme Court ruling has pushed Louisiana to cancel its congressional races, but early voting begins as scheduled Saturday for many other elections on the May 16 ballot. It’s the first major vote to be held under the state’s new semiclosed party primary system, and the stakes are significant. Sen. Bill Cassidy is in a bareknuckle fight to win reelection
INSIDE ment age for judges. And, in some parts of the state, voters will decide who represents ä Gov. Landry’s order halting them on the state Supreme Court, congressional elections faces barrage against two fellow Republicans the Board of Elementary and Sec- of lawsuits. Page 7A — U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, who ondary Education, and the Public ä What’s on the ballot in the New has President Donald Trump’s Service Commission, which reguOrleans area. Page 2B endorsement, and state Treasur- lates utilities across Louisiana. Here’s what you need to know er John Fleming, who served in Trump’s White House during his before you head to the polls. first term. cluding Sunday. Five constitutional amendments When and where do I vote? To find your polling place, what’s are on the ballot that would make Election Day is May 16, but you on your specific ballot and other changes ranging from a teacher can vote early between this Satur- information, go to the secretary of pay raise to the mandatory retire- day and next Saturday, May 9, ex- state’s voter portal at geauxvote. ELECTION 2026
com and enter your name, ZIP code and birthday.
How do primary elections work? This is the first major election since 2010 in which Louisiana is voting in semiclosed party primaries, and elections officials are trying to stave off voter confusion. If you are a registered member of a political party, you will only be able to vote for candidates of that party in the elections for the
ä See VOTING, page 4A
Court blocks mailing of abortion pills
GIG ECONOMY
BY GEOFF MULVIHILL Associated Press
STAFF PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
Aurélien Barnes performs with Raw Deal at the Old Alker Distillery during the Riverbend Lagniappe block party on Wednesday.
Musician with 26 jobs this week reflects Jazz Fest frenzy BY JENNA ROSS Staff writer
With his left hand, Aurélien Barnes carved a beat on the cowbell. With his right, he readied his trumpet and blew a funky riff. He turned back to the cowbell, then — drumstick still in hand — played another riff. Trumpet, cowbell, trumpet. By that point, performing in a sweaty Rick James cover band, Barnes was skilled at a switchover. The 30-year-old was six days and a dozen gigs into a Jazz Fest-fueled sprint. Over 11 days, the multi-hy-
phenate musician was set to play 26 shows. Each day of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival and every day in between. Three gigs a day, some days. “I’m taking it day by day,” Barnes said. This year, he’s lucky: “All the gigs I’m doing are things I want to do. My heart is in everything I’m doing.” Between them, he meets fans from all over. Folks who first saw him onstage as a kid, playing washboard with his dad, Bruce “Sunpie” Barnes, and now seek out his nextgeneration, Grammy-nominated group the Rumble. Early Wednes-
day afternoon, just before his first of three gigs that day, a man stopped him on the street to give him a fist bump and a big smile. “You’ve been lighting me up for a week!” said David Starr, in town from New York. Like many New Orleans musicians, this is Barnes’ busy season, and the trumpet player, percussionist and composer had been booking gigs for months now. His calendar was packed with rehearsals, sound checks and performances. The trunk of his small car, too,
MORE @ JAZZ FEST INSIDE
ä Friday at Jazz Fest. Page 3A ä Saturday’s cubes. Page 1D
ONLINE
ä See GIG, page 3A
A federal appeals court has restricted access to one of the most common means of abortion in the U.S. by blocking mailing of prescriptions of mifepristone. A panel of the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is requiring that the abortion pill be distributed only in person at clinics. “Every abortion facilitated by FDA’s action cancels Louisiana’s ban on medical abortions and undermines its policy that ‘every unborn child is a human being from the moment of conception and is, therefore, a legal person,’” the ruling states. Judges have long deferred to the Food and Drug Administration’s judgments on the safety and appropriate regulation of drugs. FDA officials under President Donald Trump have repeatedly stated the agency is conducting a new review of mifepristone’s safety, at the direction of the president. The judges noted in their ruling that the FDA “could not say when that review might be complete and admitted it was still collecting data.” In a court filing, Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill and a woman who says she was coerced into taking abortion pills requested that the FDA rules be rolled back to when the pills were allowed to be prescribed and dispensed only in person. Murrill heralded the ruling as a
ä See ABORTION, page 7A
Landry signs bill to merge clerks’ offices
into one operation, the first in a to assume office. Duncan compares move court Louisiana secretary of state records slew of measures aimed at restructurthe New Orleans’ courts to make show Landry signed Senate Bill 256 to Reconstruction-era ing its way through the Legislature and shortly after 3 p.m. Thursday, enactmaneuvering become law. ing the legislation as Act 15.
The changes in the law take effect at 11:59 p.m. Sunday, which means that Calvin Duncan, a former life prisoner Staff writer elected in November to be criminal Gov. Jeff Landry has signed a con- clerk of court on a platform of reform troversial bill that combines Orleans will be barred from beginning his fourParish’s civil and criminal clerks of year term Monday, the date he was set
BY MATT BRUCE
WEATHER HIGH 74 LOW 60 PAGE 8A
SB256 abolished Duncan’s position and installs two-term Orleans Civil Clerk of Court Chelsea Richard Napoleon as the parishwide custodian of both civil and criminal records.
ä See MERGE, page 4A Calvin Duncan
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STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
13TH yEAR, NO. 263