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During the last term of state government, the Louisiana Legislature was forced to call eight special elections as lawmakers moved to other elected jobs, decided to go home or moved into positions offering better pay. With roughly 21 months remaining in the current term, there have already been 11 special elections and more are potentially on the way.
Rep. Paul Sawyer of Baton Rouge is one of seven new members who have joined the Legislature in just the past three months. Only 16% of eligible voters in Baton Rouge’s District 69 turned out for the March special election to replace Paula Davis.
As with the rest of the brand-new freshman members, it’s likely that most of his constituents have no idea who he is, or even that there was an election in the first place.
“I have to spend the next year and a half to two years communicating vigorously to those people,” he says. “I have to let them know that I’m their representative and I need to hear from them and hear their priorities.”
Sawyer joins a massive freshman class comprising 40 members—accounting for 38% of the entire House of Representatives. Over in the Senate, its 14 freshmen account for 35% of the body.
They are the future leaders of the Louisiana Legislature, especially when you consider most will be reelected next term and serve alongside at least 19 other freshmen in the House and six more in the Senate, based on term limits alone.
Will they bring a new approach to policymaking in Baton Rouge? Do their views differ greatly from term-limited members? How will they shape the terms to come?
Answers to some of these questions begin with understanding who the newest members are, and what ideals drive them.
