Black voters made up nearly 32% of the people who cast ballots on Louisiana’s first day of early voting, a larger share than in any election since 2008 except the 2020 presidential race, when it reached 32.3%, according to Secretary of State data reported by the Louisiana Illuminator.
Nearly 115,000 people voted that Tuesday. Only the 2020 and 2024 presidential elections drew more on a first day, with about 174,000 and 177,000. Black residents are roughly a third of Louisiana’s population, so a 32% share means they turned out at close to their weight in the state. That has not been a given: in 2024, Black voters were about a quarter of first-day early voters.
The pattern is not limited to Louisiana. In Georgia, where more than 188,000 people voted on the first day of early voting on Oct. 13, a midterm record, Black voters made up more than 36% of those ballots, according to the election data site VoteHub, and their share was higher than on the first day in 2024. In North Carolina, Black voters accounted for 22.8% of the 501,321 ballots cast as of Sunday morning, Oct. 18, state figures reported by WBTV show.
Political analyst John Couvillon pointed to those states when he read the Louisiana numbers. “I’m not seeing the Deep South in this partisan island like we saw in 2024,” he said, suggesting that sustained Black turnout in Georgia and North Carolina could mean Louisiana keeps its pace.
Republican consultant Roy Fletcher urged patience. “Give it three days, we will know,” he said. “By Friday, I’ll be ready to opine on it.”
The turnout lands in a state where the rules changed under Black voters this year. As the Illuminator reported, the Supreme Court’s decision weakening the Voting Rights Act cut Louisiana’s majority-Black congressional districts from two to one. LSU political scientist Robert Hogan told the outlet that anger over that decision, along with opposition to President Donald Trump, is part of what is driving Democratic enthusiasm.
The top of the ballot is a Senate race between Republican Rep. Julia Letlow and Jamie Davis, a Black farmer from Waterproof who is the Democratic nominee. Louisiana has not had a Black Senate finalist since Reconstruction. U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, a Democrat, said: “This notion that Louisiana is a red state is just a notion. Jamie Davis is in play against all odds.”
Early turnout does not predict who wins, and the first days of early voting can differ from the final electorate. Louisiana’s early voting continues through the weekend before the Nov. 3 election, and state officials will keep publishing daily totals by race.
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