How does government work in Louisiana?

What may surprise you here

• Louisiana has parishes instead of counties. source
• Starting in 2026, some offices use closed party primaries, while most state, parish, and municipal offices still use an open primary where the top two advance if no one wins a majority. source
• The state constitution lists a separately elected commissioner of elections among the executive offices. source

Legislature

Name

Louisiana State Legislature source

Senate: seats

39 source

Senate: term in years

4 source

House of Representatives: seats

105 source

House of Representatives: term in years

4 source

Term limits

Senate and House: no election to a succeeding term after serving more than two and one-half terms in three consecutive terms (about 12 years in each chamber) source

Structure set by: Louisiana Constitution, Article III, Section 1.

Governor and statewide offices

Term in years

4 source

Term limit

Cannot be elected to a third consecutive term source

Next regular election

2027 source

Lieutenant governor

separate election source

Attorney general

elected source

Attorney general’s term in years

4 source

Secretary of state

elected source

Secretary of state’s term in years

4 source

Courts

Highest court

Louisiana Supreme Court source

Intermediate appeals court

Courts of Appeal (five circuits) source

Main trial court

District Courts source

How high-court judges reach the bench

mixed: all judges elected; Supreme Court nominees chosen in closed party primaries, other judges in open primaries source

Local government

Called

parish source

How many

64 source

Cities and towns

Municipalities are created under general law, and the Lawrason Act (mayor and board of aldermen) is the most common municipal form, while larger municipalities often have their own charters. source

Schools

Each parish has an elected parish school board, and some cities have their own city school boards. source

Elections

Chief election official

Secretary of State source

Who runs elections locally

Parish registrars of voters (appointed by each parish governing authority) handle voter registration source

Primary type

mixed: closed party primaries for U.S. Senate, Supreme Court, Public Service Commission and state school board; open primaries for most other offices source

Regular governor elections fall in

odd source

Citizen initiatives

no source

Who holds these offices

As of November 5, 2026. Terms of the current Congress run to January 3, 2027. Winners of the November 3, 2026 elections are not shown until results are certified and they take office.

Governor: Jeff Landry RRepublican, in office since January 8, 2024. source

Who has held each Senate seat since 2001

Each band is one person in the seat. The line marks November 2026; anything to its right is the rest of a current term. Dates through 2026 come from the congress-legislators public dataset, whose current members are matched against the Senate’s own roster on every build.

Sources