Democrats resoundingly defend red district in Louisiana, denying GOP its first pickup

Republicans have yet to flip a single legislative seat since Trump's return

Louisiana Democrat Chasity Martinez (second from left) has scored an upset win in a conservative state House seat (credit: Chasity Martinez Facebook)

Democrats successfully defended a conservative seat in rural Louisiana on Saturday night, as Chasity Martinez defeated Republican Brad Daigle by a dominant 62-38 margin—a massive 37-point overperformance compared to the 2024 presidential result.

Republicans had hoped to score their first legislative pickup of any kind during Donald Trump’s second term, and they had good reason to think they might succeed in the 60th House District.

Voters in the district, which includes part of Assumption and Iberville parishes (Louisiana’s equivalent of counties), had long backed state and local Democrats but had moved decidedly toward Republicans on the federal level in recent years.

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According to calculations by The Downballot, Donald Trump carried the 60th by a 56-43 margin in 2024, giving the GOP a real opening. Daigle, an insurance agent, further argued that the district would be better served by electing a member who would join the Republican supermajority in the legislature.

But Martinez, a member of the Iberville Parish Council, emphasized issues that have resonated for Democrats running on similarly difficult turf: affordability and public education. She also criticized a lack of responsiveness from state officials to the difficult conditions faced by many residents.

“We have people that live off of the basin; they make ends meet like that—that is their livelihood, crawfishing, fishing,” she told WAFB, referring to the wetlands of the Atchafalaya Basin. “There are people at the state level making decisions and not talking to those people who live it every day. That’s a problem.”

Louisiana Republicans will retain their wide advantage in the state House, but Martinez’s victory means that the GOP will still be empty-handed when it comes to flipping legislative seats.

Since Trump returned to the White House, Democrats have picked up eight Republican-controlled districts through special elections, as well as 18 seats in New Jersey and Virginia during those states’ regularly scheduled contests last November. Republicans have flipped none.