An upcoming election for a new majority-Black state Supreme Court district in Louisiana seems to have already been decided after two out of three candidates were disqualified from the race by an opinion issued by the court they were running for. Following the high court’s ruling to drop the two candidates from the ballot due to failing to meet qualification requirements, 1st Circuit Court of Appeal Judge John Michael Guidry is now unopposed in the election scheduled for Nov. 5. If elected, Guidry would become the second Black justice and Democrat serving on the seven-member state Supreme Court.
In the history of Louisiana’s highest court, only three Black justices have ever served, all elected from a majority-Black district in the New Orleans area. Earlier this year, the Legislature established a second majority-minority district located in Baton Rouge, covering 13 parishes on the northeast side of the state. The disqualified candidates, Judge Marcus Hunter from the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeal and Leslie Chambers, chief of staff for the Louisiana Housing Corporation, were removed from the race for not providing sufficient proof of timely tax return filings, based on a 5-2 ruling by the Supreme Court.
Chief Justice John L. Weimer stated, “While I would much prefer seeing multiple candidates participate in the electoral process to facilitate the voters having a choice in deciding who should serve them, I cannot ignore the clear facts or the applicable law which is equally clear.” The dissenting opinion, penned by Justice Jefferson D. Hughes III, emphasized the distinction between a candidate who knowingly did not file taxes and one who believed in good faith that they had filed them.
Despite claiming they believed their tax filings were in order, both Hunter and Chambers were unable to prove their compliance with the state law requiring Supreme Court candidates to submit state and federal taxes for the five years preceding the elections. Exhausting their legal options within the Louisiana court system, Chambers mentioned the possibility of seeking judicial relief beyond this venue. Additionally, the redrawn district was created as part of an initiative to add another Black Democrat to Louisiana’s highest court.
John Michael Guidry, the remaining candidate in the race, is an experienced appellate court judge in Louisiana who previously ran for the state Supreme Court in 2012. As the sole candidate left in the election, Guidry is likely to secure the position, adding to the diversity of the state Supreme Court.