Louisiana Republicans have managed to gain historic power in the state after a now-former Democratic lawmaker switched parties, thanks to his previous party’s leftward march.
State Rep. Francis Thompson has announced that he will be switching parties and joining the GOP, citing the incompatibility of the Democratic Party’s positions with his Christian faith. This move has given Louisiana Republicans a supermajority in the state’s House, marking the first time in the state’s 210-year history, Newsweek reported.
With the GOP holding a supermajority in the state Senate and now also in the state House, they have the power to override any veto from Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards.
“Let me clear: Nothing has changed,” Thompson said as he made his announcement. “There are values and principles that I firmly hold onto that guide my decisions. My conservative voting record over my years in the Legislature speaks for itself.
“The push the past several years by Democratic leadership on both the national and state level to support certain issues does not align with those values and principles that are a part of my Christian life,” he added.
Thompson, who voted with the GOP often and became “the longest-serving Democrat in the Louisiana state legislature,” said his decision was the result of long deliberations.
“This is a happy day, but it’s not a decision that was made in a day,” Thompson told the News Star.
“I’ve struggled with this and have been thinking about it for more than a year when it has become clear that the Republican Party better represents my values and philosophy today,” he added.
Republican leaders in the state said that Thompson’s move was mostly symbolic but important nonetheless.
“Today marks a pivotal moment for the Louisiana Legislature, as it has reached a supermajority for the first time in modern history,” House Majority Leader Blake Miguez said, according to Newsweek.
“Representative Thompson’s decision to change parties after 48 years sheds light on the evolving nature of political affiliations and highlights the importance of this milestone for the legislature,” he added.
“Francis having joined our ranks is further evidence of Louisiana’s yearning for conservative values and a rejection of Washington liberal politics,” Louisiana Republican Party Chairman Louis Gurvich said.
“This is an open invitation for all those Louisianans who don’t know where to go,” said state Sen. Heather Cloud, R-Turkey Creek, according to The Advocate.
House Democratic Caucus Chair Sam Jenkins of Shreveport noted that Thompson’s move was really just a formality.
“While Rep. Thompson’s decision is disappointing, it is not surprising,” Jenkins said. “Moreover, his decision does not change our focus. Louisiana families are our priority — not party politics. House Democrats are laser-focused on delivering results that improve people’s lives and move our state forward.
“We are confident that voters share our values and will elect more Democrats in October to join the fight to increase wages, improve education, and hold insurance companies accountable,” he added.
The state’s legislative session begins April 10.
According to Newsweek, from 1879 to 2004, Democrats held fewer than 70 seats in the Louisiana House for only four years. However, in the last 19 years, the number of Democrats in the House has consistently decreased.
Last month, the entire city council in a New Jersey town has switched their party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, citing the “nastiness” and “vitriol” of national politics and the Dems’ increasingly leftward shift.
According to the Daily Record, town leaders in East Hanover, N.J., made the switch last week, noted Mayor Joseph Pannullo.
“Municipal leaders have a responsibility to best represent their constituents, and it is our belief this change of party is in the best interest of the community,” Pannullo said in a statement. “As the nastiness, rhetoric and social media vitriol of national politics continues to infiltrate local governance, we collectively determined this was the best course of action to keep the focus on local issues impacting our community.”
Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed that the Department of Justice has obtained declassified transcripts from the House related to John Brennan, the CIA Chief during the Obama administration, indicating potential progress in a closely monitored case involving him.
During an appearance on “Fox & Friends” on Friday, March 27, Bondi refrained from confirming whether there is an active investigation. However, she emphasized that important documents are now in the possession of the DOJ. When asked if Brennan is under investigation, Bondi chose her words carefully but acknowledged a significant development.
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“I can’t talk about whether we do or do not have a pending case nor a pending grand jury,” she said. “What I can say publicly is that we have received transcripts from the House. Those had to be declassified.” She added that the DOJ is now waiting on documents and transcripts from the Senate involving Brennan, who is thought to be a significant player in the ‘Russia collusion’ hoax ahead of President Trump’s first term.
Earlier, the House Intelligence Committee has voted to transfer several classified hearing transcripts to the Justice Department in response to a formal request, indicating a growing federal investigation. “The last thing I’ll say on that is no one in this country is above the law,” Bondi told the Fox & Friends panel.
In the same interview, Bondi also discussed a related enforcement priority: denaturalization. While not directly connected to Brennan, she emphasized the administration’s focus on removing citizenship from individuals who obtained it fraudulently or committed serious crimes.
“We’re going to have a safe country. We’re going to have an honest country, and we’re moving to denaturalize them as fast as we can and get them out of our country,” she told the panel.
At one point, Bondi noted that the DOJ is currently looking at a suspect who allegedly liked about a marriage in order to obtain citizenship, which led many to suspect she was talking about Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Reports for years have said she wed her brother in order to get him into the U.S., while lying about who he really was.
“Yeah, it’s not easy… we would love to get some tougher laws from Congress on this. We’ve been talking to some members… One of them we’re looking at now… They lied about their marriage to get in this country. You can’t do that,” she said. “Being a citizen in our country is a privilege; it’s not a right.”
Meanwhile, in an interview with conservative podcaster Benny Johnson that aired Friday, Vice President JD Vance stated unequivocally that Omar committed fraud to enter the United States and that she is a central figure in the mounting fraud among her Somali community that is being investigated and prosecuted in Minneapolis.
“Today, for the first time, we got 100% on the record confirmation that Rep. Ilhan Omar committed immigration fraud,” Johnson wrote on the X platform that included a clip from an interview with Rob Schmitt, a Newsmax TV host.
“Lying on your immigration forms is an immediate denaturalization. Vice President JD Vance says DHS is exploring enforcement. Ilhan needs to be deported,” Johnson continued.
Vance told Johnson: “Ilhan Omar definitely committed immigration fraud against the United States of America. … She has been at the center of a lot of the worst fraudsters in the Somali community.”
President Trump appointed Vance to be the first-ever ‘fraud czar,’ and in the short time he’s been at the job, he has uncovered tens of billions in fraudulent payments to ghost companies and individuals in California and Minnesota, both Democrat enclaves.