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Democrats continue upset streak in Louisiana special election

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Democrats continue upset streak in Louisiana special election


The Democratic Party is maintaining its winning streak in some state-level legislative districts won by President Donald Trump in 2024, with the latest overwhelming Democratic victory coming in a local Louisiana special election.

Democratic candidate Chasity Verret Martinez handily defeated Republican opponent Brad Daigle by 24 points on Saturday after Trump last won the Louisiana House District 60 by 13 points. Martinez’s win represents a 37-point shift to the left.

Despite Trump’s past three victories in the district, the local seat was held by a Democrat before Martinez. Former state Rep. Chad Brown vacated the seat to fulfill an appointment made by Gov. Jeff Landry (R-LA) at the Louisiana Office of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.

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While the special election has no effect at the national level, its results are good news for Democrats as they aim to wrest control of the House from Republicans in this year’s midterm elections.

Other state-level races have seen similarly big swings in favor of Democrats.

Rehmet in Texas

In Texas last weekend, Democrat Taylor Rehmet won the special election for Texas Senate District 9 in the Fort Worth area by outperforming Trump-endorsed Republican candidate Leigh Wambsganss. Rehmet won by 14 points compared to Trump’s 17 points — a 31-point swing in just 15 months.

The results were also notable not only because of Trump’s sweeping win there but because the district was previously held by a Republican. Texas Senate District 9 has historically been a red stronghold, but that doesn’t appear to be the case anymore after Rehmet’s upset victory.

Democratic National Committee Chairman Ken Martin personally boasted about the outcome of that particular election.

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“It’s clear as day that this disastrous Republican agenda is hurting working families in Texas and across the country, which is why voters in red, blue, and purple districts are putting their faith in candidates like Taylor Rehmet,” Martin said. “This victory is a warning sign to Republicans across the country. In a Trump +17 district, Republicans had to go all out and still lost this race.”

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Meanwhile, Trump said he was not involved in the race despite his endorsement of Wambsganss. Although hopeful, other Republicans did not follow the president’s lead in downplaying their loss.

“Low turnout special elections are always unpredictable. The results from SD 9 are a wake-up call for Republicans across Texas. Our voters cannot take anything for granted,” Texas Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said on X. “I know the energy and strength the Republican grassroots in Texas possess. We will come out fighting with a new resolve, and we will take this seat back in November. We will keep Texas red.”

Hardman in Iowa

Iowa state Sen. Renee Hardman’s performance in a December special election for Iowa Senate District 16 was also significant because it blocked Republicans from regaining a two-thirds supermajority in the state’s upper chamber. Iowa Republicans now need at least one Democratic vote to confirm Gov. Kim Reynolds’s (R-IA) nominees to state agencies, boards, and commissions.

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Hardman’s win was decisive, landing roughly 43 points over Republican Lucas Loftin once all the votes were counted.

The DNC congratulated Hardman on her “historic” win as the first black woman ever elected to the Iowa Senate while celebrating 2025 as the “year of Democratic victories and overperformance.”

Now represented by Hardman, the district saw former Vice President Kamala Harris hold a 17-point lead over Trump in 2024. Nonetheless, Trump still won Iowa overall by a 13-point margin.

Clemons in Kentucky

Earlier in December, Kentucky Democratic state Sen. Gary Clemons had a 47-point landslide victory over Republican Calvin Leach in the Kentucky Senate District 37 — one that Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) heralded as a sign of overperformance for Democrats.

The Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee similarly hailed Clemons’s performance in the race at the time as signaling “momentum” for the party heading into the midterm elections.

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Clemons also notably outperformed the top of the party’s 2024 ticket held by Harris by 42 points, according to the DNC.

Though the seat was previously held by a Democrat before Clemons, it is just one of seven controlled by Democrats in the 38-seat Kentucky Senate. Republicans have a controlling supermajority in both chambers of the state legislature. Democrats are looking to make gains at the state level this year, as all 100 seats in the Kentucky House and 19 seats in the Kentucky Senate are up for grabs.



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What channel is LSU baseball vs LA Tech on today? Time, TV schedule

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What channel is LSU baseball vs LA Tech on today? Time, TV schedule


BATON ROUGE — LSU baseball has won back-to-back midweek games.

But its contest with in-state foe Louisiana Tech (15-10) at Alex Box Stadium on Tuesday, March 24 will be one of the tougher midweek matchups Jay Johnson and the Tigers (16-9) will have this season.

Tech coach Lane Burroughs and the Bulldogs currently rank 66 in RPI, which is nearly 50 points better than LSU, which sits 110 in the rating index. La. Tech has two wins over Ohio State this season.

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Louisiana Tech is led by Trey Hawsey and Colby Lunsford, who have hit nine and eight home runs so far this season, respectively.

LSU had a golden opportunity to get an SEC series win over No. 8 Oklahoma this past weekend, but could not pull out either of the final two games of the series despite having multiple chances to win. It dropped two close games to the Sooners by a combined three runs.

LSU baseball vs Louisiana Tech how to watch

  • Date: Tuesday, March 24
  • Time: 6:30 p.m.
  • TV channel: SEC Network+
  • Streaming: ESPN app

LSU baseball vs Louisiana Tech will be on SEC Network+ on Tuesday, March 24 from Alex Box Stadium. For those who do not have that channel, they can stream the game online on the ESPN app.

LSU baseball 2026 schedule

Date Opponent
Feb. 13 Milwaukee (W 15-5)
Feb. 14 Milwaukee (W 5-3)
Feb. 15 Milwaukee (W 21-7)
Feb. 16 Kent State (W 10-7)
Feb. 18 Nicholls State (W 12-1)
Feb. 20 Indiana (Jacksonville, Florida) (W 14-7)
Feb. 21 Notre Dame (Jacksonville, Florida) (W 9-4)
Feb. 22 UCF (Jacksonville, Florida) (W 11-0)
Feb. 24 McNeese State (L 7-6)
Feb. 27 Dartmouth (W 5-2)
Feb. 28 Northeastern (W 3-1)
March 1 Dartmouth (W 3-0)
March 2 Northeastern (L 13-10)
March 4 at Louisiana (L 7-2)
March 6 Sacramento State (W 15-4)
March 7 Sacramento State (L 5-4)
March 8 Sacramento State (L 6-1)
March 10 Creighton (W 8-4)
March 13 Vanderbilt* (L 13-12)
March 14 at Vanderbilt* (L 11-3)
March 15 at Vanderbilt* (W 16-9)
March 17 at Grambling State (W 7-1)
March 19 Oklahoma* (W 7-1)
March 20 Oklahoma* (L 4-2)
March 21 Oklahoma* (L 4-3)
March 24 Louisiana Tech
March 27 Kentucky*
March 28 Kentucky*
March 29 Kentucky*
March 31 Southern
April 3 at Tennessee*
April 4 at Tennessee*
April 5 at Tennessee*
April 7 Bethune-Cookman
April 10 at Ole Miss*
April 11 at Ole Miss*
April 12 at Ole Miss*
April 14 Northwestern State
April 17 Texas A&M*
April 18 Texas A&M*
April 19 Texas A&M*
April 21 New Orleans
April 24 at Mississippi State*
April 25 at Mississippi State*
April 26 at Mississippi State*
April 28 Southeastern Louisiana
May 1 South Carolina*
May 2 South Carolina*
May 3 South Carolina*
May 5 Tulane
May 8 at Georgia*
May 9 at Georgia*
May 10 at Georgia*
May 14 Florida*
May 15 Florida*
May 16 Florida*
*Denotes SEC game

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

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Louisiana’s health secretary wants AI on the phones and the website

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Louisiana residents may see changes in calling the state health department or using its website if it turns to artificial intelligence to save money. 

The department is examining how it can implement AI over the next few years to make residents’ experiences more efficient and reduce spending, Louisiana Department of Health Secretary Bruce Greenstein said at an AI symposium at LSU.

The first and largest deployment, should the department proceed with it, would be in its call centers. Running the two centers costs over $40 million a year. Greenstein said using AI to answer calls could reduce costs by up to 25%. 

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That would save the state $10 million a year while still preserving an option to talk to a human employee. 

When the department was seeking information about an AI call option, Greenstein said, there was an overwhelming response from possible providers. 

Greenstein, who has worked in both the public and private sectors, said he also is interested in using AI to help residents maneuver the department’s website. It houses information on an array of topics from SNAP benefits and Medicaid to oyster harvesting. 

“Navigating our web properties becomes challenging if you’re looking for very specific information,” Greenstein said in an interview after the symposium on Friday. “So having chatbots to help people navigate our system is something we’re also considering.” 

The department must respect the sensitive clinical information it deals with, Greenstein said, while keeping up with technological advances. 

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He said he is interested in creating protections in collaborations with health care professionals to codify patients’ rights to privacy.

Some rights would include a consent requirement if patient information was to be run through an AI database. Another would be a notification of changes, especially if a process is losing human interaction entirely. 

“So on the AI side, because we’re in kind of the new frontier, what I suspect is that we’ll proceed extra cautiously where the robot takes the place of decision-making for the human,” Greenstein said. “But we’ll have more kind of slack in the system to experiment on the administrative task side.” 

Greenstein critiqued other states’ restrictions on AI and said he did not see issues with Louisiana’s implementation yet. 

“We are not seeing something that I’m deeply concerned about thus far,” he said. “And within state government, we’ve been taking a cautious but forceful approach forward in analyzing the opportunities but not making any decisions without having a proper amount of security concerns addressed or just thoughtful analysis.” 

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Gov. Jeff Landry released an executive order in October mandating governmental AI use to be “responsible, ethical, beneficial and trustworthy.” 

The order restricts the state government’s use of AI platforms from “free software, especially those created and operated by nation states like the Communist Chinese Party.” He specifically named China’s DeepSeek AI model. 





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UPDATE: Plane found in swamp near Cleco lake, RPSO says

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UPDATE: Plane found in swamp near Cleco lake, RPSO says


BOYCE, La. (KALB) – UPDATE: Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office confirmed that officials have located a plane along the west side of Cleco Lake (AKA Lake Rodemacher) at around 5 p.m. on March 22.

RPSO said search and rescue teams have been unable to reach the plane so far as it is in a dense and swampy area of the forest.

No details on the type of plane nor the number of passengers were available from authorities at this time.

RPSO said the National Transportation Safety Board should be on scene by Monday and that all further information will go through them.

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The following agencies are all involved in the search at this time:

  • RPSO
  • Louisiana State Police
  • Pineville Fire and Rescue
  • Alexandria Fire Department
  • Rapides Fire District-2
  • Cotile Volunteer Fire
  • Flatwoods Volunteer Fire
  • Pafford Ambulance Service
  • Louisiana State Forestry Service
  • Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries.

PRIOR REPORT:

News Channel 5 was on scene near Boyce at around 3 p.m. after residents reported a possible plane crash around Cotile Lake on Sunday, March 22.

Rapides Parish Sheriff’s Office released details of the search so far.

Red Store Hill Road (Rapides)(KALB)

RPSO said they received reports of a possible plane crash at around 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.

They, alongside Cotile Volunteer Fire Department, Flatwoods Volunteer Fire Department, Taylor Hill Volunteer Fire Department and Louisiana State Police have begun searching the area.

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Red Store Hill Road (Rapides)
Red Store Hill Road (Rapides)(KALB)

As of 4 p.m., RPSO said they have not found a plane.

RPSO said the Federal Aviation Authority and National Transportation Safety Board have been notified.

More details to come.

This is a developing story.

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