BATON ROUGE (AP) — The Louisiana House has rejected incoming Gov. John Bel Edwards' pick to be its speaker.
Instead, the majority Republican chamber voted Monday for Rep. Taylor Barras, a Republican from New Iberia, to lead the House, asserting its independence against the Democratic governor.
Barras was a last-minute surprise candidate in the race who emerged in the final hours before the vote. Edwards wanted Democratic Rep. Walt Leger of New Orleans in the role. It was the first test of the limits of Edwards' power.
Barras received 56 votes, while Leger got support from 49 members.
House Clerk Alfred "Butch" Speer says the last contested speaker's election was in 1984.
The Louisiana Senate has re-elected John Alario to his second four-year term as Senate president, using a secret ballot in a break from tradition.
Senators unanimously voted to re-elect Alario, a Westwego Republican, shortly before the state's incoming governor, John Bel Edwards, was scheduled to deliver his inaugural address. Electing Alario by secret ballot was ostensibly seen as a way to limit the governor's customary role in picking the Senate president, but Edwards has said he didn't object to Alario's selection.
Sen. Gerald Long, a Natchitoches Republican, was elected President Pro Tempore — the Senate's number two leadership position.
Eleven of the 39 senators who were sworn into office are Senate newcomers.
As Louisiana's 144 state lawmakers were sworn in for their new four-year terms, Republicans have solid majorities in each chamber.
In the Senate, the GOP holds 25 seats, while Democrats have the remaining 14. Sixty-one of the House's 105 seats are held by Republicans, while 42 lawmakers in the chamber are Democrats and two are unaffiliated with a political party.
