ELECTION OLYMPICS

Many Torches Will Be Passed This Fall

BY ANDREE MILLER

EVERY FOUR YEARS the world tunes into a fortnight of athletic excellence. Representatives from around the globe gather to face off in all matter of challenges, revealing winners and losers in their respective sport. Much like the Olympics, every four years Louisianans participate in our favorite spectator sport: politics. We watch representatives from across the state put forth their best effort and argument as to why they should be the champion of districts, carrying the torch of their constituencies. This year, 2023, is our political Olympiad.

The 2023 election cycle is fueled by term limits up and down the ballot. And while there are few guarantees in life–death and taxes being two—this cycle we are guaranteed a new Governor will be elected. That term-limited trickle-down effect of an open seat means we’ll also be electing a new Attorney General, a new Treasurer, and new legislators in seats that have opened due either to term limits, or the incumbent forfeiting that seat to run for higher office.

What’s more, the Olympiad will usher in a new Speaker of the House and President of the Senate starting in 2024, those chamber masters and marshals controlling agendas, debates, roles and outcomes in Baton Rouge. Truly, the 2023 cycle and decisions of voters across the state will shape Louisiana for generations to come.

WHAT IS GOING TO DRIVE VOTERS TO THE POLLS?

2023 will give us our first view into the minds of voters in a post-pandemic Louisiana. While we’ve seen two federal elections since the world shut down in March 2020, we have not, as an entire state, gone to the voting booth to give a report card to the executive and legislative leadership that guided policy during the pandemic. We expect the handling of COVID-related issues and policies to be a key component of political messaging and still very top of mind for voters come election day.

Additionally, many of the issues throughout the country during the 2022 midterms will make their way into the legislative and statewide discussion as well–inflation, the economy and crime will be atop the messaging ticket and main points debated throughout the election cycle.

Voters should expect to be bombarded with messaging highlighting legislative stances on everything that was voted on during the 2020 term and beyond– issues ranging from the cost of insurance, criminal justice reform, COVID, vaccines and even social issues like abortion and the Fairness in Women’s Sports Act. No stone will be left unturned on the campaign trail that stands to be as hot as the August days in south Louisiana.

It has been and will continue to be the mission of LABI’s political arms to be engaged in races throughout the state. We will have a data-driven approach in supporting candidates who believe in the free-market principles that drive our mission and serve our members.

WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE 2022 MIDTERMS?

Assume nothing. Traditionally politics has been thought of as an older person’s game. If 2022 taught us anything it is that the tide is turning. While, by and large, older generations make up most voters, the rate at which young voters cast a ballot is steadily increasing. According to the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement at Tufts University, about 27% of registered voters in the 18-29 age range cast ballots in the 2022 midterms. This is the second highest voter turnout in the past 30 years among that age group. And in races where every vote counts – like the ones Louisianians will face this fall – the young vote will matter. In the most contested congressional races in 2022, the margin of victory was delivered by voters aged 18-29. Will young people turn out in Louisiana in 2023? Only time will tell, but candidates would be prudent to consider how to reach those voters and make that outreach a part of their election plan.

Lastly, 2022 told us that identity politics is not enough. In a Pew Research Center poll conducted less than a month before the midterms, an overwhelming majority of both Republicans and Democrats said candidates did not do a good job of explaining their policy plans. Candidates who rely on identity alone to carry them over the finish line will be disappointed. The cliché “voting has consequences” became a reality for most constituents through the COVID pandemic. Voters will have questions on policy, and reciting basic political talking points will not be sufficient. Candidates would be wise to have their policy talking points thoroughly planned out, and their experience and record to point to for proof.

2023 is Louisiana’s Olympics. It will be a long summer of campaigning followed by an even longer fall of political messaging. But when the votes are cast and counted, we will have a new governor, new statewide leaders and a new legislature leading us in a new direction for our state. What will that direction be? Will it be more of the same or will it finally enable Louisiana to capture the proverbial gold medal and be a champion in the south? We, the voters, will decide. 

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