Louisiana has since the 1970s had an open primary system for electing its public officials, whereby candidates (regardless of party) run on the same primary and/or general election ballot. In the first special session of 2024, the law was changed to restrict who could participate in primary elections for the US House/Senate, the Public Service Commission, the Supreme Court, and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education starting in the Spring of 2026.

JMC Analytics and Polling was again commissioned by private subscribers to poll Louisianians about the state’s open primary system/switching to a closed primary system. Major takeaways from that poll are as follows:

(1) There is still minimal voter appetite for changing to a closed primary,
(2) Just under half of respondents are even aware that the law was changed,
(3) Closed primaries have become LESS popular since the January 2024 special session (the previous poll was conducted in December 2023)
(4) By a 4:1 margin, voters are less likely to support a legislator who favored changing the law to close primaries for several offices – that is a drop in “support” relative to the previous poll.

The reason this poll is relevant is that there is legislation in the regular session (HB 595, by Representative Julie Emerson) that proposes moving both statewide elected offices and legislators to a closed primary system – this was attempted in the January special session, but the bill was amended in a Senate committee to take these changes out.

The poll can be found here