Voters will decide if Louisiana governors can serve more than two terms total

The Louisiana Legislature approved a proposal Tuesday to enact stricter gubernatorial term limits, sending the measure to voters to decide in the fall election.

House Bill 225, sponsored by Rep. Mike Bayham, R-Chalmette, cleared the Senate in a 28-10 vote and will be placed on the Nov. 3 general election ballot as a constitutional amendment. 

Currently, the Louisiana Constitution prevents a governor from being elected to more than two terms only if the terms are back to back. Bayham’s amendment would change the limits to apply regardless of whether the terms run consecutively.

During debate on the Senate floor Tuesday, Sen. Jay Luneau, D-Alexandria, insisted the proposal would only apply to future governors because it doesn’t contain an explicit retroactive provision.

When asked later about Luneau’s assessment, Bayham said it’s a matter of interpretation that would be left up to the courts. 

“The language is what it is,” Bayham said. “Either way, I can live with it.”

Bayham said he supports term limits for most statewide offices but feels term limits for the governor are a priority because of the outsized power the state’s chief executive wields.

Some opponents of the legislation have accused Bayham of being worried and trying to stop former Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, of running for a third term. Edwards has never suggested it as a possibility but poked fun at the idea in a social media post Tuesday.

“I think this is what the kids call ‘living in somebody’s head rent free,’” Edwards wrote on the X platform.

Only two Louisiana governors have served more than two terms. 

Edwin Edwards held the office for an initial two terms from 1972-80, won a third term from 1984-88 and then a fourth from 1992-96. 

Earl Long, originally elected as lieutenant governor, took over as state leader for a year when Gov. Richard Leche resigned in 1939 while under federal investigation for corruption. Long lost the 1940 governor’s race to Sam Jones but was elected to a full term from 1948-52 and another from 1956-60.