By Message Staff
By large margins, Ralph Abraham, M.D., and Mike Johnson retained their seats in the U.S. House, following the midterm elections held Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Abraham won 67 percent of the vote in the 5th Congressional District race and Johnson garnered 64 percent in the 4th Congressional District election. Abraham is a member of Alto Baptist Church and Johnson is a member of First Baptist Church in Bossier City.
“Representing Louisiana’s 5th District has been an incredible honor, and I am so grateful to the people for allowing me to continue to serve,” Abraham said in a written statement. “Regardless of what party controls the House, I will always vote for the conservative principles and Louisiana values that Washington still desperately needs.”
Johnson said he is looking forward to serving his second term in Congress.
“I hope that the Democrats if they’re in charge will be willing to work with the Republicans and continue the great strides that we’ve made over the last two years – reducing taxes, reducing regulations, rebuilding the military, putting originalist judges on the federal court,” Johnson told KALB-TV in Alexandria. “These are all things the American people deeply care about. We’ve got big challenges ahead of us. Immigration needs to be fixed. We’ve got to fix the healthcare system and so many other challenges. So we’ve got to work together. I think the American people want and expect us to do that. And I hope people will roll their sleeves up and be willing to work toward consensus.”
Abraham and Johnson and the other four members of Louisiana’s delegation in Congress were re-elected to serve new two-year terms Tuesday. Joining Abraham and Johnson were fellow Republicans Garret Graves of Baton Rouge, Clay Higgins of Port Barre and Steve Scalise of Jefferson Parish. Cedric Richmond of New Orleans, the lone congressional Democrat from the state, won his re-election bid.
Democrats picked up enough seats in the House to give them a majority of 221-196, with 18 seats still to be decided, according to Fox News. In the Senate, Republicans held onto their majority 52-46, with two races still too close to call.
OTHER STATE RESULTS
In the Louisiana secretary of state race, both Republican Kyle Ardoin of Baton Rouge and Democrat Gwen Collins-Greenup of Clinton received 20 percent of the vote and will face each other in a runoff Dec. 8. Ardoin has been serving as interim in the office since the resignation of Tom Schedler amid sexual harassment allegations.
A measure to allow Internet gambling on fantasy sports passed in 47 of Louisiana’s 64 parishes, according to the Nola.com. Approval or defeat was parish-by-parish, meaning some parts of the state will allow fantasy sports and others prohibit it.
Participants will pay to create a virtual sports team based on actual players in sports leagues. Wins and losses will be based on the players selected and how each athlete performs week-to-week on their real teams, thereby accruing points for the fantasy team.
The Louisiana Baptist Convention and Louisiana Family Forum were two organizations that led efforts to urge state residents to vote “no” on the measure.
Voters approved all six constitutional amendments on the ballot, ranging from requiring a unanimous jury in felony trials to prohibiting felons from voting or seeking public office until five years after completing their sentences.
Other amendments that passed: allow local governmental entities to donate goods and services to each other without need for compensation; prevent money in the state’s Transportation Trust Fund to be used by the Louisiana State Police to pay for traffic control services; extend eligibility for tax exemptions to homeowner’s whose property is placed in a trust; and, establish a four-year phase-in of a property tax hike if the assessed value of a primary residence that qualifies for homestead exemption increases by 50 percent or more.
