Numerous political races are currently underway in Louisiana, which can be both exciting and overwhelming as voters attempt to stay informed. Beyond the labels, slogans, and talking points lie real policy issues in need of principled solutions.
As Louisiana heads into the 2026 Public Service Commissionrace, energy and infrastructure policy will be front and center. Surging electricity demand—driven by aging infrastructure, electrification, and manufacturing growth—has already pushed base utility rates up an estimated 40 percent since 2018, with more increases projected. Yet higher demand does not have to mean higher costs: large, steady users like data centers can help spread fixed grid costs and potentially lower average rates when managed transparently and competitively.
The key question for voters is whether regulators will embrace policies that encourage competition, predictable permitting, and fair cost allocation, or continue approaches that insulate incumbent monopoly utilities from market pressure. Recent actions such as the Louisiana Public Service Commission’s “Lightning Initiative,” which allows utilities to bypass competitive bidding, highlight what is at stake. This year, the Commission’s direction will help determine whether Louisiana captures the benefits of its energy growth or locks ratepayers into higher costs for years to come.
Louisiana voters will also soon head to the polls for congressional elections, the outcomes of which will impact policy across the country. Congressional leaders and candidates may feel pressure to “bring home the bacon” by securing federal dollars for their home state. This, however, can create new or increased state reliance on federal funds, which threatens independence and financial stability. Federal money is never a lasting guarantee and usually comes with strings attached that can affect state priorities in ways that do not align with the most pressing needs of citizens. Louisiana’s budget is now comprised of nearly half federal funding, putting the state at risk of budget shortfalls if that funding is ever reduced or eliminated. Voters should be wary of promises from candidates that, while well-intentioned, undermine federalism in practice.
Louisiana’s federal leadership can best help the state by promoting policies that further free-market principles. Allowing free trade and exchange and avoiding market controls like tariffs and price or rate caps positions states for stability and freedom. Louisianans suffer when the state’s most profitable and innovative industries are overregulated by Washington and when bureaucracy and red tape are allowed to prevail.
And then we have state-level elections for four vacant seats in the Louisiana Legislature. Important issues such as tax reform, education (and education freedom), public safety, and all that drives a state’s economy—and ultimately Louisiana’s Comeback—are in the balance.
While evaluating the various congressional and state office candidates, voters should look for commitments to policies that don’t pick winners and losers in the marketplace and society at large. Business success ought to be driven by competition rather than favoritism and incentives, and people prosper when they can keep and utilize what they rightfully earn. This entails a commitment to limiting both federal and state government spending so that tax rates can be lowered and ensuring that the state tax structure is simple and fair, with broad, flat rates.
Finally, we must remember that free-market principles extend beyond economics. To give one important example, families deserve access to educational options to the greatest extent possible. It’s only just that parents who decide an alternative to public school is better for their child also have the opportunity to utilize their tax dollars for a school or homebased educational program that meets their needs. The free market supports opportunity and is open to all for ordered participation. Keeping these ideas in mind will help to cut through the usual campaign confusion.
Those interested in learning more about free-market policy solutions, especially ahead of this year’s elections, can read Louisiana’s Comeback Agenda for solutions that will drive our state forward.
