The longest-serving Democrat in the Louisiana state legislature is switching parties, giving Republicans a supermajority in Baton Rouge for the first time in the state’s 210-year history.
On Friday, the Louisiana Republican Party issued a press release announcing that state Assemblyman Francis Thompson — who was first elected a Democrat to the statehouse in 1975 — had decided to switch parties, giving the Republicans a supermajority of 70 votes in the legislature would allow them to override a veto by the state’s controversial Democratic Governor, John Bel Edwards.
However, given Thompson’s voting record and the fact that he already sides with Republicans, this came as little surprise to some. As a Democrat in 2022, Thompson signed a Republican-led bill exempting religious institutions from state public health orders, which Edwards eventually vetoed, and a concealed carry bill that received mostly Republican support after years of failure became.
Thompson, who represents a largely rural area outside of the northern Louisiana city of Monroe, sought to emphasize that record in his decision to make the move.
The Louisiana State Capitol building is shown, with State Representative Francis Thompson in the inset. Thompson, a Democrat, switches parties, giving the GOP a supermajority in the state legislature for the first time in Louisiana history. Matthew Hinton/Newsweek Photo Illustration/Getty Images/Louisiana Legislature
“Let me be clear – nothing has changed,” Thompson said in a statement after the move. “There are values and principles that I firmly hold and that guide my decisions. My conservative voting record during my years in the legislature speaks for itself.
“The push by democratic leaders, both national and state, in recent years to support certain issues is not consistent with the values and principles that are part of my Christian life,” he added.
While Thompson’s move gives the GOP its first supermajority in state history, veto-proof majorities were fairly common in Louisiana in the early 20th century, when Democrats — then a more conservative coalition built in the South by opposition to civil rights reforms — dominated the membership with significant margins.
Beginning in 1879, Democrats held more than 70 seats in the state House of Representatives for all but four years until 2004, when many conservative members of the party switched sides, reflecting an increasing shift in Southern Democrat sensibilities.
Prominent Southern Democrats, such as Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, switched parties in 1964 after then-Democratic President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act into law.
Another prominent example is controversial Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer’s decision to switch to the GOP months before the state’s divisive 1991 election at the urging of former President George HW Bush in the White House like John H. Sununu and Dick Cheney, according to media reports claimed at the time was intended as an example of the growing appeal of Republicans in the US Southeast
Not the least bit surprising, but you can probably count with your own two hands how many rural Trump District Democrats are now left at the legislative level throughout the South. Truly an amazing change in the last ten years. https://t.co/TyGde5bAqE
— Chris (@RuralChrisMS) March 17, 2023
Thompson’s change of affiliation was intended to be a similar show of power by the state party, as it helped fill the list of 18 states nationwide with a veto-proof majority in their state legislature.
“Today is a pivotal moment for the Louisiana Legislature as it achieved supermajority for the first time in modern history,” House Majority Leader Blake Miguez said at a news conference announcing the move. “Rep. Thompson’s decision to change parties after 48 years sheds light on the evolving nature of political affiliation and underscores the importance of this milestone for the Legislature.”
news week emailed Thompson for comment.
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