Two more candidates join Baton Rouge and Lafayette state Senate races on day 2 of qualifying

Two more candidates qualified on Wednesday to run for open seats in the Louisiana Senate.

One of the vacancies is to represent District 14 in Baton Rouge and the other is to represent District 23 in Lafayette.

Carolyn Hill signed up to run in Baton Rouge on the second of the three-day qualifying period, which closes Thursday afternoon. She is running as a Democrat.

Hill, 42, has a career in policy social work and currently works for East Baton Rouge Parish Schools. She also founded and owns Hill and Hills Associates, a political consulting firm that supports candidates running for office.

In 2011, she won a race to represent District 8 on the state Board of Elementary and Secondary Education. She lost a 2015 bid for reelection to BESE.

In Lafayette, Republican Jesse Regan formally qualified to run for state Senate.

Regan was elected to represent District 3 on the Broussard City Council in 2019. He won reelection in 2022.

Regan is a mortgage lender at Preferred Lending Solutions. He also co-founded DJD Development Group and co-owns Madison Banquet & Reception Centre in Broussard, according to an online biography.

The candidates who signed up Wednesday join four others who qualified Tuesday.

Democrats Quentin Anthony Anderson and state Rep. Larry Selders qualified in Baton Rouge, and Republican state Rep. Brach Myers and Kristopher Harrison, who is running unaffiliated, qualified in Lafayette.