House Speaker Mike Johnson is expected to win a fifth term representing Louisiana, comfortably beating four other candidates, according to the Associated Press. With nearly 60% of the vote projected for him, he is set to return to Congress in January.
Johnson, a close ally of President Donald Trump, was widely favored to win given his position in House leadership and strong fundraising. His 4th Congressional District includes Shreveport and Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana and is considered safely Republican by the nonpartisan Cook Political Report.
The state’s election calendar changed after Gov. Jeff Landry delayed the primaries to give lawmakers more time to redraw the congressional map. Rather than holding spring primaries followed by a Nov. 3 general election, Louisiana sent the top two candidates in each of its six districts to an early-December runoff, unless a candidate received more than half the vote.
The redistricting effort followed a Supreme Court decision earlier this year that gave Louisiana Republicans room to eliminate, in effect, the state’s only Black-majority district, which had been drawn under the Voting Rights Act.
Johnson’s decisive win does not guarantee smooth sailing among House Republicans. If the party retains its national majority, he is widely expected to remain speaker. If Republicans lose control, however, he could face calls from within his own party to give up his leadership post.
In that scenario, House Judiciary Committee Chairman Jim Jordan of Ohio is seen as a possible contender for minority leader, alongside House Majority Leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana.
