Leadership of the Louisiana Republican Party is considering how far it should go in voicing its condemnation of U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy s vote this week in favor to move forward with the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump.
The state party issued a blistering rebuke of their senior GOP senator immediately after Cassidy joined five other Republicans and all 50 Democrats Tuesday in voting to uphold the trial as constitutional, but members are discussing whether to censure him. My phone has been blowing up since it happened, said Mike Bayham, secretary of the state GOP and a member of its executive committee, in an interview with USA Today Network. This thing has hit a nerve. This is a big vote.
Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy faces backlash, but voters can t recall members of Congress
Louisiana U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy might be censured by his home state Republicans, but he can t be recalled by voters, Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin said.
Ardoin cited multiple references, among them a 2009 Louisiana attorney general s opinion, that prevent any member of Congress from being the subject of a recall petition.
The Louisiana Republican Party condemned their senior senator s vote to allow former President Trump s impeachment trial to move forward as constitutional, while Cassidy s home parish East Baton Rouge Republican Parish Executive Committee voted unanimously to censure him.
New Orleans businessman Louis Gurvich retained control of the Louisiana Republican Party in a meeting of party leaders Saturday in Baton Rouge, where members also voted to endorse Julia Letlow in the 5th Congressional District race.
Gurvich, party chairman since 2018, fended off a challenge from state Rep. Lance Harris of Alexandria in the intra-party election.
About 200 Republican State Central Committee members voted at Parkview Baptist Church.
They also voted to endorse Claston Bernard of Gonzales in the 2nd Congressional District race. That seat is open after former Congressman Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, resigned his seat to join Democratic President Joe Biden s senior leadership team.
A new coronavirus variant from the United Kingdom that is more contagious than COVID-19 is spreading in Louisiana and will likely become the dominant variant here by March, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said Thursday.
The Louisiana Department of Health confirmed a second and third case of the UK variant known as B.1.1.7 with 14 more suspected and waiting to be confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control.
Two of the three confirmed cases are in the New Orleans area and the third is in the Lake Charles area. The bottom line is it s present in (20 states) and present in Louisiana, Edwards said. We know it transmits more easily … so we know the added importance of masking and social distancing.