Free Republic

For the first time in the state’s history, Republicans have a supermajority in Louisiana. Republicans now have a 70-vote supermajority and can override a veto by the state’s Democrat governor John Bel Edwards. On Friday, the longest-serving Democrat in the Louisiana state legislature Rep. Francis Thompson announced he was switching parties. Thompson has served in the legislature since 1975. This action by Thompson doesn’t come as much of a surprise as his voting record shows that the had been caucusing with the Republicans. Thompson gave a statement after announcing the switch, “Let me clear. Nothing has changed, there are values...

Louisiana state Rep. Francis Thompson, after nearly 50 years of elective service as a Democrat, switched parties to become a Republican on Friday giving the GOP a supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature which gives them the power to override vetoes by Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards. With the switch, Republicans gain a two-thirds, 70-vote supermajority in Louisiana’s House and Senate in a huge win for conservatives, according to CBS affiliate WAFB. Thompson becomes the 70th Republican member in the state House. Today, along with the GOP supermajorities in the legislature, both of the state’s US senators are...