La. primary has bigger role in 2016

Saturday’s presidential preference primary in Louisiana will play an important role in selecting the Democratic and Republican party nominees because the state’s primary is being held earlier than usual, party leaders say.
Primary voting will be from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday. The ballot includes presidential primaries for the Democratic and Republican parties.
Only registered Democrats and Republicans are eligible to vote, and you must vote your party.
Also on the ballot for some St. Mary Parish voters is the election of a member of the Republican State Central Committee, 21st Senate District, Division A. Only registered Republicans on the west end of the parish can vote on that seat.
To find out your polling location or ballot information, visit https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/. You can search using your name or address.
Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Director Stephen Handwerk said state Democratic leaders “are incredibly excited” for Saturday’s primary. Candidates are campaigning in Louisiana because the state now holds its presidential primary earlier in the year.
“The attention we’re getting right now here in Louisiana I think is good for all of us no matter what side of the aisle you fall on,” Handwerk said.
Louisiana’s 2012 presidential primary was held March 24 that year.
Republican Party of Louisiana Executive Director Jason Doré said Republican and Democratic leaders worked together several years ago to move up Louisiana’s presidential primary “to put us in the best spot to be relevant.”
Dore said, “In the past, the presidential … nomination process has been almost over when it’s gotten to Louisiana. It’s a different story tomorrow. It’s wide open. There’s a front-runner, but there’s still a lot of ways to go. And Louisiana will have a large impact on what the outcome of the presidential nomination process will be.”
Doré expects turnout for the primary to be much higher than the state’s previous presidential primaries, he said.
The presidential preference primary is the first step in the state Democratic Party’s candidate selection process, Handwerk said.
The results of the primary will give the statewide and congressional district break-down for each candidate, which then allows the Democratic Party to “divvy up the 51 pledged delegates” from Louisiana, Handwerk said.
There are also eight un-pledged delegates for the state’s Democratic Party, and those delegates can vote however they choose because of the positions they hold within the party, Handwerk said.
The Democratic Party selects how many pledged delegates each candidate will get based on the percentage of votes each candidate receives, Handwerk said. Party leaders will then choose the pledged delegates to vote for the candidate to which they’re assigned.
In April, the Louisiana Democratic Party will finalize the delegates it will send to the convention, he said.
Un-pledged delegates don’t have “to lock in” their votes until the Tuesday of the Democratic National Convention, Handwerk said.
The Republican Party of Louisiana will have 46 delegates at the Republican National Convention. Louisiana’s three Republican National Committee members serve as automatic delegates. Republicans also pick three delegates from each congressional district, for a total of 18 delegates, Doré said.
At Tuesday’s Louisiana Republican caucuses, the top six delegate candidates for each presidential contender became his or her “slate” in a congressional district, the party’s website says.
After Saturday’s primary, Republican presidential contenders will be awarded 18 delegates based on the percentage of the vote they receive during the primary, Doré said.
The state Republican convention will choose up to 23 delegates March 12 from a list of delegate candidates that presidential contenders provide, Doré said. Presidential contenders who get at least 20 percent of the primary vote will get to nominate a certain number of delegates based on their percentage of the vote, he said. The state convention will then choose the remaining delegates, which aren’t bound to any particular candidate, Doré said.