The first day of qualifying time is half over, and for the major races, nearly all of the incumbents/major players have qualified. Below is the current status:

 August 28 party primary/October 2 party runoff if necessary/November 2 general election:

U.S Senate Race – David Vitter, Charlie Melancon, and a Libertarian named Anthony “Tony G” Gentile (who ran for Governor in 2007 and for Steve Scalise’s Congressional seat in 2008) have filed. At this time, there will be a Democratic primary for the Senate race, as Cary Deaton of Metairie will be challenging Charlie Melancon in the primary;

All 7 Congressional seats – All Republican Congressional incumbents have filed for re-election. There will be a contested Democratic primary both in New Orleans between state representatives Cedric Richmond and Juan LaFonta and in Shreveport/Northwest Louisiana between Steve Gavi and David Melville. There will also be a contested Republican primary for Charlie Melancon’s vacated House seat between Hunt Downer and Jeff Landry;

October 2 primary/November 2 runoff if necessary:

Lieutenant Governor – Thus far, Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, GOP Chairman Roger Villere, and St Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis (who rankled some by crossing party lines to endorse Mary Landrieu in her 2008 re-election campaign) have filed so far;

Supreme Court, District 7 – this is the seat of Bernette Johnson in New Orleans that includes most of Orleans Parish and the Westbank of Jefferson Parish, and so far, only Johnson has filed;

Public Service Commission Districts 3 and 4 – District 3 is a New Orleans to (inner city) Baton Rouge district held by first termer Lambert Boissiere, while District 4 is a Central and Southwest Louisiana based district that elected Clyde Holloway last year in a special election and, for the first time, gave Republicans a numerical majority on that board. Commissioner Holloway is now seeking a full term to that office. Thus far, no one has filed for either seat;

State Representative District 5 – Term limited incumbent Wayne Waddell (R-Shreveport) will resign effective August 1 to take a museum director’s job. His seat in the southern suburbs of Shreveport should remain in Republican hands, as it has for decades. No one has filed for this seat so far;

State Senate District 2- Ann Duplessis (D-New Orleans) vacated her seat to take a job in the Mitch Landrieu administration in New Orleans. Her district in New Orleans East will remain in Democratic hands, although there is a question as to whether this district will be eliminated after next years’ redistricting. Thus far, Democrats Mike Darnell and Cynthia Willard-Lewis have filed for this office.

We will keep an eye on who has qualified throughout the qualifying period, although for those who wish to research this on their own, the Secretary of State keeps this information continuously updated on their site: http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/165/Default.aspx