(The Center Square) — In a special election held Saturday, Baton Rouge and Lafayette residents voted in new members of the state Senate.
According to state data, in the race for the state senator seat for the 14th District, Democratic candidate Larry Selders won with 62% or 4,153 votes in Baton Rouge. Also in the running was Democratic candidate Carolyn Hill, who received 20%, or 1,355, of the vote, and Democratic candidate Quentin Anthony Anderson, who received 17%, or 1,149, of the vote. A total of 6,657 votes were counted, and the report notes the unofficial turnout was around 9.5%.
In the running for the 23rd district state senator seat were Republican candidates Brach Myers and Jesse Regan in Lafayette. Regan received 45%, or 5,591, votes, while Myers received 55%, or 6,769, votes, leading Myers to win the seat. Total votes for the 23rd district totaled nearly double what the 14th district saw with 12,360 votes. The unofficial turnout was around 14.1%.
The two seats were vacated after the November general election when state Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, was elected to Congress and state Sen. Jean-Paul Coussan, R-Lafayette, won a Louisiana Public Service Commission spot.
Selders previously served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives after being elected in November 2020. The Secretary of State’s office noted he can take office on March 3. Myers was also a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 45th district. He took office in January of last year after being elected in 2023.
With both newly elected officials already holding House seats, another special election will need to be held to fill the two vacant spots.