Louisiana Republican lawmakers gained a significant upper hand after a longtime Democrat switched parties.
State Rep. Francis Thompson, who has served as a Democrat from northeast Louisiana for decades, changed his party registration on Friday, according to CBS affiliate WAFB.
With this party swap, Republicans now have the numbers in both chambers of the state legislature to muster a two-thirds supermajority to override vetoes by Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards.
This is the first time Republican lawmakers in the state have had such an advantage in Louisiana’s roughly 210-year history, per Newsweek.
Thompson, 81, insisted that “nothing” has changed in his values, though he acknowledged having a “conservative” voting record. Read more…