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BATON ROUGE, LOUISIANA
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S u n d ay, J u n e 14, 2026
ELECTION 2026
Letlow’s momentum grows in Senate race
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BR school raises were years in the making
3 superintendents struggled to boost teacher, employee pay BY CHARLES LUSSIER Staff writer
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U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, is considered the favorite in the U.S. Senate race with early voting underway until Saturday in advance of the June 27 runoff election.
But Fleming says not to count him out BY TYLER BRIDGES
Staff writer
Gone are the national reporters who flocked to Louisiana to capture the political drama of whether U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, could survive President Donald Trump’s attempts to end his political career. Gone, too, is Cassidy after U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, rode Trump’s endorsement to first place in the May 16 Republican primary with 45% of the vote, state Treasurer John Fleming ran second with 28%, and the senator finished third with 25% and was eliminated. Letlow remains the favorite in the Senate race with early voting under-
A new Louisiana law bars lawsuits that seek to hold oil and gas companies accountable for climate change. STAFF FILE PHOTO By SOPHIA GERMER
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way until Saturday in advance of the June 27 runoff election. The Republican candidates are generating most of the attention, but farmer Jamie Davis and business owner Gary Crockett are vying on a separate ballot for the Democratic nomination on June 27. The winners of each party runoff will face off in the Nov. 3 general election. And the winner of that election will replace Cassidy. Cassidy’s absence from the June 27 runoff will benefit Fleming, said Woody Jenkins, chair of the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Party and a fervent Fleming supporter.
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Senate candidate John Fleming said voters are receptive to his message that carbon capture and sequestration will poison waterways and strip ä See SENATE, page 4A landowners of property rights.
A big pay raise for educators in Baton Rouge public schools was debated, worked and reworked for years before it was finally approved last week. The result overhauls and simplifies East Baton Rouge Parish school salary schedules in such a way that the vast majority of school employees are getting a raise. Teacher salaries, in particular, are getting a boost, increasing by an average of about $8,500 a year. Starting teacher pay is increasing from $50,000 to $56,000 a year. On that measure, East Baton Rouge is vaulting to sixth place in the state and second in the capital region. Locally, only Iberville Parish, where teachers start at $60,506 a year, pays more. The cost of the raises is estimated at $21.8 million a year, Lanus which the district hopes to finance through anticipated increases in local tax collections and future budget cuts. As the vote neared, East Baton Rouge Parish School Board member Dadrius Lanus described the years of effort that preceded the vote. Lanus, who took office in 2019, is one of Cole only three board members who have served on the board throughout the entire odyssey. He credited schools Superintendent LaMont Cole for making it happen when his predecessors could not. “I applaud your team for combing through the budget, finding enough money, using the time and allocations necessary to see that we could get this over the line,” Lanus said. “This is not an easy process.” Board member Mike Gaudet, who took office in 2017, expressed similar sentiments: “We’re finally coming to the spot where this is feasible and doable.”
ä See RAISES, page 4A
Louisiana banning lawsuits over climate change Law seeks to protect oil and gas companies
The Louisiana Energy Protection Act, written by state Rep. Brett Geymann, R-Lake Charles, is aimed at preventing lawsuits filed by states and local jurisBY ALEX LUBBEN dictions in other parts of the U.S. from playing out in Louisiana. Across the Staff writer country, about 30 lawsuits seeking to Louisiana has joined a handful of hold industry to account for the impacts Republican states that have recently of climate change have been weaving passed legislation aimed at banning their way through the legal system, but lawsuits against oil and gas companies none has been brought in Louisiana. The lawsuits seek to hold oil and over the harms of climate change.
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gas companies accountable for the impacts of sea level rise, extreme weather events, wildfires and flooding, arguing that the companies should pay for measures needed to adapt, such as seawalls and building elevations. Louisiana has now banned those types of claims from being brought in state court against oil and gas producers or any other defendant.
ä See LAWSUITS, page 6A
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