Louisiana Politics 2025 Recap

Louisiana Politics 2025: The Biggest Stories You Probably Forgot

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Key Takeaways

• 2025 was a year of aggressive policy shifts in Louisiana, from ethics rollbacks to new abortion and voting rights battles.
• Higher education and public institutions saw major leadership shakeups and anti-DEI pressure driven by federal directives.
• Courts and regulators repeatedly checked executive power, blocking amendments, Ten Commandments displays, and LNG permits.
• Criminal justice and immigration policies tightened, including nitrogen gas executions and large-scale federal enforcement sweeps.
• Health care and social services faced disruption through Medicaid contract turmoil and funding cuts to reproductive health providers.

Table of Contents

• 2025 at a Glance: Why This Year Mattered
• Governor Power Plays and Voter Pushback
• Courts, Criminal Justice, and Civil Rights
• Higher Education, DEI Crackdowns, and Leadership Shakeups
• Environment, Energy, and the New Political Economy
• Health Care, Medicaid, and Social Services
• Immigration Raids, Voting Rights, and Redistricting Fights
• How You Can Stay Engaged in 2026

2025 at a Glance: Why This Year Mattered

If you live, work, or invest in Louisiana, 2025 quietly reshaped the rules around taxes, ethics, education, criminal justice, and environmental policy. The original report from the Louisiana Illuminator pulls together month-by-month moments many residents have already forgotten.

From a nitrogen gas execution at Angola to a $740 million wetlands verdict against Chevron and an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America,” the year’s headlines show a state experimenting with bold, often polarizing moves.

For readers, this isn’t just political trivia. These changes can affect:

• Where your kids go to school and what support they receive
• How much transparency you get from elected officials
• Whether your community is protected from pollution or industrial buildout
• How easy it is to vote or access reproductive and health services

Governor Power Plays and Voter Pushback

Gov. Jeff Landry spent 2025 testing how far executive power could stretch. His agenda included:

• Constitutional amendments rejected by voters: In March, Louisianans rejected all four amendments Landry backed, including an overhaul of tax and budget rules. Nearly two-thirds voted no, signaling voter discomfort with rapid structural changes.
• Ethics system rewired: In June, lawmakers approved sweeping ethics law changes that make it harder to bring misconduct charges and loosen disclosure requirements. Landry’s own attorney helped craft the language.
• Symbolic culture-war moves: The governor’s order to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the “Gulf of America” and his renaming of Camp Beauregard tied local identity politics to national narratives.

For politically active readers, this is a reminder to track not only elections but also process reforms that quietly change how power is policed.

Courts, Criminal Justice, and Civil Rights

2025 marked a turning point for Louisiana’s justice system:

• Federal probe into State Police: The U.S. Department of Justice documented a pattern of unlawful conduct across Louisiana State Police, following the 2019 killing of Ronald Greene.
• Return of executions using nitrogen gas: Jessie Hoffman became the first person executed with nitrogen gas at Angola, ending a 15-year pause on executions (details here).
• Abortion criminalization escalates: A New York doctor and a Louisiana mother were indicted over mailed abortion pills, in what appears to be the first criminal case of its kind post-Roe. Later, AG Liz Murrill pursued out-of-state providers and challenged federal rules on mifepristone.
• Non-unanimous jury relief blocked: Despite backing from the state GOP and Congressman Clay Higgins, a bill to review non-unanimous jury convictions failed 9–26 in the Senate.

If you care about civil liberties or wrongful convictions, bookmark cases like Jimmie Duncan’s vacated death sentence and Calvin Duncan’s election as clerk of court: they illustrate both systemic harm and local reform momentum.

Higher Education, DEI Crackdowns, and Leadership Shakeups

Colleges and universities navigated financial strain and federal pressure:

• UNO furloughs and layoffs: The University of New Orleans furloughed around 290 employees and later laid off 30, consolidating leadership roles to close budget gaps.
• Anti-DEI wave: LSU flagged over 1,300 webpages containing “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” after threats of lost federal funding. UL Lafayette shuttered its Office of Campus Inclusion.
• Leadership turnover at LSU and Southern: LSU President William Tate departed for Rutgers, with Wade Rousse and Jim Dalton stepping into new system and campus roles. The Southern University System began moves to transition from President Dennis Shields.

Students and parents choosing schools in 2026 should watch how these shifts impact program offerings, campus climate, and financial stability.

Environment, Energy, and the New Political Economy

Louisiana’s role as an energy hub collided with environmental justice concerns:

• Chevron’s $740M wetlands verdict: A Plaquemines Parish jury said Chevron must pay over $740 million for decades of alleged wetlands damage. The U.S. Supreme Court’s review could set nationwide precedent for coastal parishes and oil companies.
• LNG expansion vs. community rights: A judge ruled that a permit for the Commonwealth LNG export terminal violated the state constitution for failing to consider environmental impacts. When the state reissued its approval, environmental groups sued again (follow the case here).
• Meta’s massive power demand: Regulators fast-tracked three natural gas plants for Entergy to power Meta’s data center in Northeast Louisiana, raising questions about ratepayer risk and long-term emissions.
• Regulatory rollback for chemical plants: A presidential proclamation allowed numerous chemical manufacturers, including 12 in Louisiana, to bypass new emissions rules (details here).

For residents on the coast or near industrial corridors, these cases will shape flooding risk, air quality, and utility bills over the next decade.

Health Care, Medicaid, and Social Services

Public health policy in 2025 lurched between cost cutting, ideological battles, and federal appointments:

• Medicaid insurance upheaval: The Landry administration abruptly cut two Medicaid insurers before partially reversing course with short-term extensions. UnitedHealthcare chose to exit Louisiana, forcing roughly 330,000 enrollees to switch plans.
• Under-scrutinized anti-abortion centers: A legislative audit found the state failed to properly oversee public money going to crisis pregnancy centers, despite legal requirements.
• Reproductive health funding cuts: Planned Parenthood clinics in Baton Rouge and New Orleans faced closures or financial scrambling after Medicaid funding was blocked for certain providers.
• Vaccine-skeptic leadership at CDC: Louisiana Surgeon General Ralph Abraham, known for rolling back vaccine distribution, was appointed to the No. 2 position at the CDC, signaling a shift in national public health leadership.

If you or your family rely on Medicaid, reproductive health services, or public vaccination campaigns, 2026 is a crucial year to verify your coverage and stay alert to plan changes and clinic availability.

Immigration Raids, Voting Rights, and Redistricting Fights

Louisiana became a testing ground for hard-line immigration enforcement and new legal theories on voting rights:

• Operation Catahoula Crunch: A federal immigration surge targeted day laborers, restaurant staff, and construction workers across the New Orleans region, as described in this report. For mixed-status families and employers, this created fear and labor uncertainty.
• Legislative maps struck down: A 5th Circuit panel ruled that Louisiana’s legislative maps violate the Voting Rights Act by diluting Black voting power.
• Challenge to the Voting Rights Act itself: In Louisiana v. Callais, AG Liz Murrill argued that a key VRA provision is unconstitutional (case summary). A Supreme Court ruling could narrow how race can be considered in redistricting nationwide.
• Ten Commandments law blocked: A requirement to display the Ten Commandments in every classroom was blocked as unconstitutional by a 5th Circuit panel, with the full court set to review it.

Voters should keep an eye on election calendars and district lines, especially after the governor’s special session on the 2026 election schedule. Small calendar shifts can impact turnout, candidate recruitment, and the fairness of representation.

How You Can Stay Engaged in 2026

Given how much changed in a single year, the most practical step is to build your own Louisiana democracy toolkit for 2026:

• Verify your voter registration and precinct information using the state tools highlighted in the Illuminator’s Democracy Toolkit.
• Track issue-specific coverage:
  • For environment and LNG: follow updates on Commonwealth LNG and Chevron’s Supreme Court case.
  • For criminal justice: watch future reporting on executions, juvenile court proposals, and non-unanimous jury efforts.
  • For education: monitor leadership and DEI changes at LSU, Southern, UL, and community colleges.
• Engage locally by attending school board, council, or Public Service Commission meetings—sites where many of these big-picture shifts become day-to-day realities.

To dive deeper into any of the stories summarized here, explore the linked articles throughout this post or visit the original compilation at the Louisiana Illuminator.

Source: https://lailluminator.com/2025/12/31/louisiana-2025/