Neuty the famous nutria has died following a battle with cancer 1B
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T u e s d ay, M ay 12, 2026
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N.O. council taps interim clerk amid battle with state Special election set, though attorney general vows to block move
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer
The New Orleans City Council on Monday tapped former Judge Calvin Johnson as New Orleans’ interim clerk of courts and called a special election for the permanent post, even as Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill called the moves illegal and vowed to keep Johnson out Murrill of the Clerk’s Office. The council on Monday voted 5-2 to appoint Johnson to serve in a combined clerk’s seat
created under a new law that took effect this month. It also called a Nov. 3 election to tap someone for the permanent clerk’s job. The back-and-forth Monday is the latest in a sparring match between state and local officials over the clerks’ offices since Gov. Jeff Landry last week signed Act 15, which eliminated Clerk-elect Calvin Duncan’s job days before he was set to take office. “Genuine legal questions still exist as to whether this move, Act 15, undermines the people’s
Retired Judge Calvin Johnson, right, sits in the back of council chambers at City Hall on Monday as the New Orleans City Council votes him in as interim clerk for Orleans Parish.
right to elect a candidate of their choosing to this novel role of clerk of court,” council Vice President Matthew Willard said. But Murrill, in a letter sent to the council Friday, said the election and the appointment were illegal under Act 15. She said the law consolidated the criminal clerk functions into Civil District Court Clerk Chelsey Richard Napoleon’s office. If the council “attempts to install an ‘interim clerk’ and additionally to call an illegal election, I will certainly be required to act,” pursuant
STAFF PHOTO By CHRIS GRANGER
ä See CLERK, page 5A
Democrats have large early-voting turnout
‘We’ve got to fight together’ City leaders talk strategy for Louisiana redistricting at town hall
BY SOPHIE KASAKOVE Staff writer
New Orleans leaders on Monday night expressed outrage, disappointment and hope for fighting back against a Supreme Court decision that removes a second majority-minority congressional district from Louisiana, calling it a suppression of the local Black electorate’s power. U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, Mayor Helena Moreno, New Carter Orleans City Council members and members of the New Orleans delegation hosted the town hall at Dillard University on Monday night
ä See TOWN HALL, page 5A
STAFF PHOTO By DAVID GRUNFELD
STAFF PHOTO By MICHAEL JOHNSON
A standing-room-only crowd attends U.S. Rep. Troy Carter’s voting rights and redistricting town hall Monday at Georges Auditorium on the Dillard University campus in New Orleans.
A sign points the way to vote at the Louisiana State Archives on May 4 in Baton Rouge.
Pattern could imperil amendments on state ballot BY TYLER BRIDGES
ELECTION 2026
Staff writer
Democratic voters turned out in proportionally large numbers during the ä Crucial early voting period vote on and that could pose Louisiana’s — problems for the five controversial constitutional amendredistricting ments on Saturday’s ballot. push Political analysts scheduled believe that the five for Tuesday. amendments — four PAGE 4A of which Gov. Jeff Landry strongly backs — may fall prey to a backlash caused by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling and moves by Landry and other Republicans to remove Black Democrats from political office.
WEATHER HIGH 80 LOW 69 PAGE 6B
“There is one very obvious target for the energized Democratic voter base: the amendments,” said John Couvillon, a pollster and demographer in Baton Rouge who closely tracks early voting data. “If you’re a Democrat, voting ‘no’ is a perfect way to express your anger.” The five amendments would give the Legislature power to remove civil service protections for state employees, create a school system in the city of St. George in East Baton Rouge Parish, give teachers a pay raise by dissolving three education trust funds, allow parishes to eliminate the property tax on business inventory and raise the
retirement age for judges from 70 to 75. Landry clearly has a lot riding on the results. His political action committee is running ads to win passage of all but Amendment 5. “A broad coalition of supporters are voting yes on these amendments,” said Millard Mule, a consultant for Protect Louisiana Values, Landry’s group. “They lower hidden taxes that drive up grocery and car prices, deliver permanent teacher pay raises without raising taxes and give local leaders more control so decisions stay closer to home.” The governor suffered his biggest political defeat a year ago when voters overwhelmingly rejected all of his four proposed amendments. Many of the same groups responsible for those results — which operated under the Liberty and Dignity Coalition — are opposing most, if not all, of the amendments on Saturday’s ballot.
ä See EARLY, page 4A
Trump proposes gas tax pause Iran ceasefire on ‘life support’; Strait of Hormuz stays closed BY JON GAMBRELL, SAMY MAGDY and SEUNG MIN KIM Associated Press
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates — President Donald Trump on Monday said the Iran ceasefire is on “life support” after rejecting Tehran’s latest proposal, which officials said included some nuclear CO ONFLICT concessions. Trump also proposed suspending the federal gas tax to IN THE T MIIDDLE help with higher fuel prices caused by the war. EAST AST The stalled diplomacy and recent exchanges of fire could tip the Middle East back into open warfare and prolong the
Business ......................6A Commentary ................5B Nation-World................2A Classified .....................7D Deaths .........................3B Opinion ........................4B Comics-Puzzles .....3D-6D Living............................1D Sports ..........................1C
ä See GAS TAX, page 4A
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