With more than a third of the lawmakers in the Louisiana Legislature being forced to abandon their seats in 2019 due to term limits—36 of 105 representatives and 16 of 39 senators—Jeremy Alford says many lawmakers are already “racing the clock and searching for a place to land.”
While some term-limited members are openly looking for another office higher up the political food chain, like a statewide post, others are eyeing lateral moves, like a parish council seat.
“And in what amounts to a clear sign that elections really are starting earlier than ever, there are already at least a half dozen declared candidates actively campaigning for legislative seats that won’t become available for another 32 months or so—all connected to term limits,” Alford writes in his latest column.
Amid all the moves, Alford says there’s a growing chorus of concern about morale levels in the Legislature.
“It’s jokingly being said at fundraisers and cocktail parties that every member of the Legislature is either developing or implementing an exit strategy,” he writes, adding the job of a legislator has become a grueling one over the past year. A partisan divide has taken hold of the process and there’s little chance of reversing that trend. The fiscal problems are about as challenging as they have ever been. Moreover, the hours are longer, the people are grumpier and the view never changes. No wonder so many people are leaning toward the door.”
Term limits have certainly left their mark on the Louisiana Legislature since being enacted in 1995, Alford says.
“The constitutional provision was added as a way to bring fresh voices to the Capitol, and that has definitely been accomplished,” he writes. “But we’ve also lost institutional knowledge along the way and a new kind of politics have been invited into the Capitol—politics that encourage more job-shopping and extend campaign seasons.”
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
