Louisiana voters launch recall petition against Gov. Jeff Landry

Baton Rouge community advocate Marian Gbaiwon Hills and independent voter Katilyn P. Stepter filed recall petitions with the Louisiana Secretary of State on May 4, 2026, targeting Gov. Jeff Landry and AG Liz Murrill. Hills, a Liberian-American entrepreneur and civil rights organizer, also filed a separate recall against East Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sid Edwards. The petitions span all 64 parishes and cite a pattern of actions undermining fair representation.

Stepter, who registered as a no-party voter, told reporters outside the Secretary of State's office that she has no political aspirations but felt compelled to act. Under La. R.S. 18:1300.2, organizers must collect 500,884 valid handwritten signatures within 180 days of filing, setting an October 31, 2026 deadline.

The recall was triggered by Landry's April 30 executive order suspending Louisiana's U.S. House primary elections, which had been scheduled for May 16 with absentee voting already underway. Landry invoked emergency powers after the Supreme Court's April 29 ruling in Louisiana v. Callais, which struck down the state's two majority-Black congressional districts as unconstitutional racial gerrymanders in a 6-3 decision written by Justice Samuel Alito.

Landry and Murrill argued the state needed time to draw new maps, but critics noted the administration had originally supported creating the second Black-majority seat before reversing course at the Supreme Court. The FEC confirmed the suspension affected active elections where voters had already cast ballots.

The Louisiana Senate passed a new congressional map on May 15 by a 27-10 vote that eliminates one of the state's two majority-Black districts. The map pits Democratic Reps. Cleo Fields and Troy Carter against each other while creating a 5-1 Republican advantage across the state's six seats.

Fields won election to the 6th District in 2024 after federal courts ordered a second majority-Black seat, making him one of two Black Louisianians elected to Congress for the first time in the state's history. The new map would cluster his former district around predominantly white communities in the Baton Rouge area.

Signing events drew large crowds across the state within the petition's first two weeks. On May 11, supporters gathered at Shreveport's Government Plaza for one of the first public signings. In New Orleans on May 13, residents lined up through three rooms at the Gwangi and Hollywood Community Center in Algiers, hosted by Malik Rahim, a longtime organizer and former Black Panther Party member.

Rahim told NOLA.com the crowds showed that power lies in the strength of the people. Signing locations ranged from the Howling Wolf music venue to a thrift store in Arabi to Government Plaza in downtown Shreveport.

On May 15, over 200 Acadiana residents turned out at Lafayette City Hall to sign petitions against both Landry and Murrill. The event was organized by the local Democratic Party Executive Committee in coordination with Hills and Stepter. It came the night after the Legislature approved the new congressional map eliminating the majority-Black district.

In Acadia Parish, volunteer Jacqunette Guidry independently organized signing events in Crowley with a personal goal of 20,000 signatures. Guidry set up at 428 N. Avenue C, demonstrating how the movement spread through individual volunteers acting without centralized coordination.

Organizers built their infrastructure through social media, word of mouth, and a website called Louisiana Deserves Better (louisianadeservesbetter.com) that lists signing locations updated regularly. The separate recalljefflandry.org serves as another organizing hub. By May 16, WAFB reported organizers were coordinating efforts across the entire state with large crowds waiting in the heat at signing locations.

The movement lacks the backing of a major political party or well-funded PAC. Instead, it relies on parish-by-parish volunteer networks that formed organically after the election suspension.

The recall also targets AG Liz Murrill, who argued Louisiana's position in the Callais case before the Supreme Court. Murrill initially supported the creation of two majority-Black districts but then told the Court that Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act was unconstitutional. Hills and Stepter filed the Murrill recall petition separately, requiring its own signature threshold.

The recall effort also connects to the Orleans Parish criminal court clerk controversy, where a new state law eliminated the office of clerk-elect Calvin Duncan, who won with 68% of the vote after being wrongfully imprisoned for 28 years. Residents view these actions as part of a broader pattern of elected officials overriding voter choices.

No statewide recall in Louisiana has succeeded in at least 60 years, according to Secretary of State records. Every modern Louisiana governor has faced a recall petition, but none collected enough signatures. Political analyst Jeremy Alford told Townhall that the 500,000-signature threshold is nearly impossible, noting most elections can't get that many people to the voting booth.

A March 2026 Pelican Institute poll showed Landry at 43% approval with 36% disapproval. The 20% signature requirement means organizers need roughly the same number of voters who elected Landry in October 2023, when he won with 52% of the vote in a low-turnout primary.