NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — For the first time in state history, Louisiana has more registered Republican voters than Democrats, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

Political analyst Jeff Crouere says that while Louisiana has voted Republican in recent elections, the real shift was due to Republicans convincing Democrats to cross the aisle.

“Encourage more people to register as Republicans. These were like conservative Democrats that had been voting Republican but were still registered as Democrats. So, they, they were encouraged to switch parties. This trend accelerated. It’s been going on for a while,” said Crouere.

Republicans are calling it a milestone, saying it shows the state is finally as good as its people, crediting every grassroots volunteer who helped make it happen.

“That is a testament to republicans sticking to their promises. Louisiana is going to be the best state in the nation, and we are one year at a time making that happen,” said Gov. Jeff Landry.

“More Louisianans than ever are choosing the party of freedom. Opportunity, honesty, lower taxes, safer streets, and better schools. This is a historic milestone for our state,” said Chairman of the Republican Party of Louisiana Derek Babcock.

However, Democrats see it differently. They argue there hasn’t been a political shift at all, saying the change is largely the result of widespread voter purging.

“Where you kicked thousands and tens of thousands of people off the rolls without giving them an opportunity to fix it. You go through these purges, and you summarily target Democrats,” said Louisiana Congressman Troy Carter.

“The governor is doing everything that he can to showcase that his back is not against the wall, that the people of Louisiana are not turning against him and the MAGA Republicans’ agenda,” said Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis.

Overall, Croure says it’s a small gap, so both parties have to do better. Citing recent voter turnout.

“Democrats need to catch up as far as the money goes. The messaging, the type of candidate. But if I were Republicans, I wouldn’t be celebrating too much, because in the last election, only 17% of Republicans bothered to vote,” said Croure.

Ashley Shelton, CEO of the Power Coalition, says the organization has been working to register more young voters by partnering with local colleges and universities.

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• The Louisiana Supreme Court has temporarily blocked the arrest of Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill.
• A New Orleans grand jury indicted Murrill on felony charges of malfeasance and intimidation.
• The charges relate to letters Murrill sent to city officials regarding a legislative action.
• Murrill described the indictment as a “political witch hunt,” while Gov. Jeff Landry called the grand jury a “kangaroo court.”

The Louisiana Supreme Court granted a stay early Friday morning to keep Republican Attorney General Liz Murrill from being arrested on felony charges handed down by a New Orleans grand jury July 2.

Though the Supreme Court didn’t dismiss the case against Murrill, it did pause the process and signaled in its ruling that the attorney general “is likely to succeed on the merits of a motion to quash this indictment on either a legal basis or due to apparent procedural irregularities.”

Murrill responded with a statement at 6:53 a.m. July 3.

“I’m grateful to the Louisiana Supreme Court for swiftly issuing a stay in this matter,” she said. “I hope this political witch hunt is not a harbinger of things to come, but I fear that it is. Neither the grand jury investigation law nor the public intimidation law was intended to be used as a political weapon by a rogue, biased, vindictive special prosecutor, judge and grand jury. I hope the Legislature in the future will ensure this cannot happen again.”

The grand jury returned a 16-count indictment charging Murrill with malfeasance and intimidation in the latest chapter of an ongoing feud between Murrill and Democratic city leaders.

The charges stem from letters Murrill sent to city officials, among them Mayor Helena Moreno, in May saying they risked losing their elected positions if they tried to overturn legislative action that eliminated a New Orleans criminal clerk’s elected office.