FEATURE: In 2024, Reformers Joined the Louisiana Democrats with Hopes of Reshaping the Party... So, what happened? (~10 min. read)
"I'm afraid the party will abandon the [trans] community."
Apathy. Anger. Frustration. Fear. Those are all emotions many Americans felt in the wake of the 2024 Presidential election. Now, watching ICE kidnap people in broad daylight, while President Trump torches the constitution, it’s clear the foreboding was no exaggeration. Democratic establishment is still trying to figure out how they could have lost so badly. Some believe it was an unwillingness to give a full-throated condemnation of the slaughter of Palestinian children; or their attempts to reach “reasonable” Republicans, at the risk of alienating progressives. Some even blame vulnerable segments of their base.
"I'm afraid the party will abandon the [trans] community," Mel Manuel, a trans member of the Louisiana Democratic State Central Committee (DSCC) told me. Manuel is one of dozens of reformers who ran for DSCC seats in 2024 in order to oust then-Democratic Party Chair Katie Bernhardt, in a bid known as Blue Reboot. By all accounts, the reformers—with others in the party—have been working hard to turn things around. But there’s been some points of tension. On March 8th, 2025, the DSCC met for a meeting in regards to a resolution written by the brand new LGBTQ+ caucus, reaffirming that the party will support queer rights. There was a line stating that the state party would commit to “not endorsing or supporting Democratic candidates or officeholders who use their votes or their public platform to deny fundamental rights and protections to LGBTQI+ citizens.” The resolution, as it was, aligned with the Democratic National Committee’s 2024 platform on queer rights. State DSCC’s, as affiliates of the national party, should adhere to the same platform as the national Democratic Party. But then the Democrats lost the 2024 Presidential election.
In the March 8th meeting, Corey Smith, DSCC executive committee member for the state’s 6th district, says he believes the party is “fighting the wrong fight” before mentioning that the party was “going to die on the hill” of queer rights. It should be noted that the Louisiana Democrats have had several lawmakers vote in favor of anti-trans legislation in recent years, signaling that Smith is not aware that their attempts at diet-bigotry—supporting anti-trans bills while still wanting to appear queer-friendly—is futile when stacked up against the GOP’s unhinged vitriol. The DSCC meeting ended with the line promising to not advance anti-queer agenda being removed, after high tensions, and what was described to me as homophobic behavior.
The internal tension doesn’t stop at queer rights. There’s been internal squabbling over whether or not the new Chair, Randall Gaines, is up to the task of his job; accusations of a “coup” attempt to unseat Gaines; old guard vs new; progressives vs conservatives. Theoretically, the Blue Reboot was supposed to fix all of these issues.
So, what happened?
The letter stated, “our First Vice Chair has been actively working to undermine the party from within… She has plotted behind closed doors to remove our Chair and seize power for herself, stirring chaos when we most need stability.”
The Democrats’ popularity has plummeted, with a July 2025 survey showing that United States Congressional Democrats had a 19 percent approval rating with 72 percent of voters disapproving of them. This is occurring at a time where the GOP's agenda also grows increasingly unpopular, to the point they are underperforming in down-ballot and state-level races, in places they should be winning handedly, or at least competitive in. The GOP’s panic is shown in the fact that President Trump is pushing Texas and Missouri to further gerrymander their maps before next year’s midterms.
Leaked emails and documents show a Louisiana Democratic party that is struggling with internal beef and other miscalculations, and conversations with several party insiders have painted a picture of a party frustrated with leadership. In an anonymous letter sent by email to several members of the DSCC, the writer states that the Chair, Gaines, has no vision for the party. The anonymous sender isn’t the only person within the party to have doubts about Gaines’ ability to lead, per several sources.
One big blight so far on Gaines’ Chairmanship occurred when lawyer Blake Corley posted a picture with Gaines, stating, “I received a call from [Gaines]... offering to appoint me as a Political Advisor for the Louisiana Democratic Party.” There was instant backlash. Corley was once engaged to Madison O’Malley, who ran against Louisiana State Representative Mandie Landry in a hotly contested race in 2023. O’Malley got the backing of much of the Louisiana Democratic establishment in a race fought along “progressive vs establishment” lines. Corley’s legal citation alleges that Kathy Hurst, the DSCC’s Parliamentarian, suggested to Gaines that Mandie Landry and associates would be upset by the appointment. The citation further states that Hurst was troubled by Corley’s connection to two Louisiana political donors who are currently incarcerated. Hurst allegedly asked Corley to take down his posts, and 5 hours later, Gaines made a post disavowing Corley’s connection to the party, stating that Corley had no affiliation with the Democratic Party, and that there was no position called “Political Advisor” within the party. This led to a defamation lawsuit against Hurst, Gaines, and the Louisiana Democrats.
The dysfunction in the party led DSCC’s First Vice Chair, Katie Darling, to tell a room of people they shouldn’t donate to the party in their current state. This took place at an event on the Northshore. Darling garnered national attention in 2022 during her campaign run against Republican US House Representative Steve Scalise, when a campaign advertisement of her giving birth went viral.
But after the Northshore event, some people were far from happy with her. The same anonymous letter that was sent disparaging Gaines’ leadership, also criticized Darling. The letter stated, “our First Vice Chair has been actively working to undermine the party from within… She has plotted behind closed doors to remove our Chair and seize power for herself, stirring chaos when we most need stability.”
Jeremy Thompson, a member of the DSCC, sees Darling’s point in regards to receiving donations. “If I were to ask you or anybody else to give money, [if] I were in your position, I would ask what's it [going] towards and right now I couldn't tell you.”
One contingent started what was described as a “movement” to have Darling removed from her position as First Vice Chair. In leaked emails, DSCC member Gian Durand accuses Katie Darling of trying to oust Gaines in March. This all culminated in a meeting in late June that was described to me as a “public trial” for Darling; someone else called it a “castigation.” According to sources, the “movement” to oust Darling has since fizzled out.
Conflict between up and comers and the old guard extends to core beliefs, with flash points like the removal of prayer from before meetings. Jeremy Thompson noted that the party consists of people of many faiths, thus one preference of a certain religion’s prayer, instead of a more agnostic prayer, could cause feelings of alienation. “I don't think many people on the other side of that realize what it would feel like to them, if it were some other type of prayer.” They noted that “anytime you counter tradition” it’s treated as an egregious overreach and “[it has] turned out to be a very steep hill to climb.”
The state-wide governing body’s dysfunction is one part of the equation but the problems persist even on the local level, in the Democratic Parish Executive Committees (DPEC). The DPECs can be viewed as autonomous, Parish-level affiliates of the Louisiana Democratic Party.
The tensions within the party were visible at a DPEC meeting in St. Tammany Parish, where events devolved into finger pointing and shouting. St. Tammany Parish DPEC Chair (and Covington Councilman), Peter Lewis, filibustered a meeting concerning bylaws that would’ve led to his removal, only allowing those who he designated to speak to provide their opinions. He eventually, after getting pushback from attendees and DPEC members, had the Covington Police Department come and remove everyone from the building.
However, no singular issue points to the divide within the Democrats more than the issue of trans rights, which is reaching a crisis point across the nation.
Gavin Newsom, Governor of California, got buddy-buddy with far-right activist Charlie Kirk of Turning Point USA, with Newsom agreeing with Kirk’s stance on trans youth in sports, calling it “unfair.” In Georgia, State Senator Elena Parent told the parent of a queer child she could "go to heck" after the parent confronted the Democratic State Senator on her plans to vote for an anti-trans bill. There are more examples of the Democrats trying to navigate Trump 2.0 by signaling they will throw trans people under the bus on their road to electoral power. However that is unlikely to work out for them, as the attacks on trans rights have fizzled out in terms of electoral power. Granted, that has not slowed the attacks on their rights writ-large.
In the March 8th meeting, opponents to the LGBQT+ caucus’ resolution cited fear of further political losses, losing Black male voters, and "religious rights" as grounds to why they couldn't endorse the promise to protect queer civil rights. That vote isn't the only instance of anti-queer sentiment within the state party. Other incidents include: 2 Democratic lawmakers asking Randall Gaines, who took part in the LGBTQ+ caucus’ Kamala Harris fundraiser, if he's "playing for the other team" and pressuring him to add "ally" next to his name to show he's straight, according to a source. 1/5th of the DSCC didn't vote to endorse a trans congress candidate—Mel Manuel—despite them being the only Democrat in the 2024 race against Steve Scalise. This is to say nothing of the lawmakers voting for anti-trans policies, and much more.
“There was a pretty clear divide,” Jackson Voss, a participant in Blue Reboot, told me. He added about the March 8th meeting, “Some of the things that were said were… at best, insensitive to gay people.”
There have been things going well though, and some changes being made.
Jeremy Thompson “got the ball rolling” on creating a progressive caucus. Thompson told me, “We have quite a large active contingent of people who self-identify as progressives in the party and who [are] interested in making… unprecedented efforts to actually recruit people outside of the same political circles and to get fresh blood into the election system.” There have been about 50 or so members signed up so far. There’s also been the creation of the Strategic Planning Task Force, Thompson told me. The task force is composed of people from various geographical plains of the state, including rural areas. The hopes are to recruit more progressive candidates, and to lead the party by example.
According to Voss, people within the party have been working hard to recruit candidates. “It’s looking like Louisiana will have Democratic candidates running in every House district, including having a Democratic challenger for [United States House Speaker] Mike Johnson for the first time since 2020.” Voss says that everyone is in “wait and see” mode for the US Senate race, as far as he knows. When asking about who the candidates for the next House elections were, not much could be said. They are all currently waiting for the right time to announce their candidacy. But, “a few of them,” says Voss, will be first time candidates.
The Trump brand is souring among those outside of his main base. Millions have filled the streets in the months since inauguration day and made their voices heard. That feeling of resistance is in Louisiana. That feeling was backed up on the night of May 29th, 2025, when the Constitutional Amendments backed by the Louisiana GOP went up in smoke, after high voter turnout led to nearly two-thirds of voters rejecting all four Constitutional Amendments. Political observers viewed the defeat of the Constitutional Amendments as a rebuke of Trumpism, due to the Governor’s close relationship to the President's family. Outside the March 29th election, Louisianans hit the streets during the No Kings Rally on June 14th, in 9 cities; with thousands marching in New Orleans. Combine disillusionment with the status quo with a weak Governor who is polling poorly, there’s potential for a grassroots movement within Louisiana to take place. In a time like this, an effective opposition party would try and ride this organic wave into power. But it seems as though the Louisiana Democrats took all the wrong lessons from the 2024 election, like other Democratic Parties around the country.
This idea that the Democrats need to abandon queer people to try and appeal to some invisible voter is a foolish notion that does nothing but harm themselves. The info I received shows a party at war with itself while the LA GOP continues to strip away at the state little by little, with the most recent action being the canceling of the restoration program by Jeff Landry. And while Landry runs around doing what he wants, the opposition party is holding borderline literal trials for their own party members.
It’s uncertain if the Louisiana Democrats will be able to turn things around before the Gubernatorial election in 2027, or if the in-fighting will stop, but to those within the party I spoke to, both quoted here and not, they believe this state is worth fighting for.
Story edited by Holly Devon, paid for by your contributions to this newsletter!
***CORRECTION:
I originally stated that Peter Lewis barged into the DPEC meeting in Covington. He was actually already presiding over that meeting, when the incident took place.
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