Louisiana Democrat Switches Parties, Republicans Now Hold 71 of 105 State House Seats

FILE - Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson, D-Delhi, reacts after being in sworn in with
Brett Duke/AP
Jacob Bliss
Washington, DC

Louisiana Democrats lost another state House member to the Republican Party this week, the second in the last month to switch political parties.

State Rep. Jeremy LaCombe, a Democrat elected in 2019 to a state House district, said he would be switching his party affiliation to Republican, according to a Monday report by The Advocate. 

Additionally, it was unclear initially what prompted LaCombe to switch parties since he did not give any reasons.

However, this does come after the Republicans in the state House recently gained a supermajority in mid-March after state Rep. Francis Thompson announced his plan to switch party affiliations. Thompson switching from the Democrat to the Republican party gave the Louisiana House GOP a supermajority for the first time ever. Now, the Republicans in the Bayou State have a veto-proof supermajority in both the House and Senate.

The House Democratic Caucus Chair Sam Jenkins claimed that, despite changing parties, LaCombe still embraces “the same values” as the Democrats.

“House Democrats will continue to stand up for the working people of Louisiana,” Jenkins added. “We look forward to working with Rep. LaCombe during this legislative session to increase wages, lower costs, improve our schools, and pass insurance reform that benefit Louisiana families and small businesses.”

Breitbart News wrote last week that Democrat state representatives switching parties and one special election over the last month gave Republicans three new supermajorities in state legislatures, bringing the total to 25 nationwide.

Before LaCombe, over the last month, both Thompson and North Carolina state Rep. Tricia Cotham left the Democrat Party, and state Rep. Dan Knodl (R) defeated a Democrat attorney to win an open state Senate seat in Wisconsin.

Now, Republicans in North Carolina and Louisiana can override vetoes from Democrat governors, while Republicans in Wisconsin are now just two seats away in the State Assembly from having the power to override vetoes from Democrat governor Tony Evers.

Jacob Bliss is a reporter for Breitbart News. Write to him at jbliss@breitbart.com or follow him on Twitter @JacobMBliss.

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