How to run for local office in Louisiana: the 2027 parish guide

The short answer

2027 is Louisiana's year for parish and state elections. In most parishes, voters will choose a sheriff, a clerk of court, an assessor, a coroner and the members of the parish governing authority, which is the police jury or, in a home rule parish, the governing body its charter sets up, such as a parish council and parish president. The same ballot carries both houses of the Legislature, the governor and the six other statewide elected officers. The primary is on Saturday, October 9, 2027, and the general election is on Saturday, November 20, 2027.

To get on the ballot, you qualify with the clerk of court in the parish where you are registered to vote, between Tuesday, August 3 and 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 5, 2027. You file a notice of candidacy with either the qualifying fee or a nominating petition. The petition is an alternative to the fee for these offices, not an extra step. Louisiana does not allow write-in candidates, so qualifying is the only way onto the ballot.

The dates in this guide come from the Louisiana Secretary of State's schedule of 2027 elections, revised in October 2026, which notes that the Legislature can change them. The rules come from the Louisiana Revised Statutes (R.S.), the Louisiana Constitution and the Secretary of State's candidate guides, with citations in the text. This is not legal advice, so confirm specifics with your parish clerk of court. If you have never run for anything before, our post on how to run for local office with no experience covers the groundwork that applies in any state.

What is on Louisiana's 2027 ballot, and what is not.

Parish offices. In the Secretary of State's records of current officeholders for the parishes we checked, the terms of the sheriff, clerk of court, assessor, coroner and parish governing authority members end in 2028, which means their successors are elected in fall 2027. The constitution sets a four-year term for the sheriff, the clerk of court, the coroner and the assessor. Each office has its own guide:

• How to run for sheriff in Louisiana
• How to run for police jury or parish council in Louisiana
• How to run for assessor, clerk of court or coroner in Louisiana

The Legislature. State senators and state representatives serve four-year terms (La. Const. Art. III, Sec. 4(C)) and are elected in 2027. Our guide on running for the Louisiana Legislature covers both houses.

Statewide offices. The governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, treasurer, commissioner of agriculture and forestry, and commissioner of insurance are also elected in 2027. Those candidates qualify with the Secretary of State, so this guide does not cover them in detail.

The State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE). BESE is a "party primary office" under state law, so it follows the closed party primary calendar: party primaries on April 17 and May 29, 2027 and the general election on October 9, 2027.

What is not on the 2027 ballot. Most school boards were on the 2026 ballot. The Secretary of State's schedule lists the next school board election in 2026 for every parish except Orleans (2028) and Lafayette, whose school board is elected in the governor's election year. Justices of the peace, constables and district judges were on the 2026 ballot as well.

Exceptions to check. Orleans Parish elects its parish and municipal officers on its own schedule (R.S. 18:402(D)(2)), so this guide does not cover Orleans Parish offices. A few other parishes, including East Baton Rouge and Plaquemines, elect their governing authority in other years. Town offices vary: some towns vote on April 17 and May 29, 2027, and others vote in the fall. Ask your parish clerk of court which offices will be on your ballot.

How Louisiana's primary works.

State law describes two kinds of primary. For every office in this guide, R.S. 18:401(B)(1) applies: "Except for the election of persons to a party primary office in a party primary election, all qualified voters of this state may vote on candidates for public office in primary elections without regard to the voter's party affiliation or lack of it, and all candidates for public office who qualify for a primary may be voted on without regard to the candidate's party affiliation or lack of it."

A "party primary office" is defined in R.S. 18:2(9) as "an office of senator or representative in the United States Congress, justice of the supreme court, the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, and the Public Service Commission." Parish offices, the Legislature and the statewide executive offices are not on that list.

In the October 9 primary, "a candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast for an office in a primary election is elected" (R.S. 18:511(A)). If no one receives a majority, the two candidates with the most votes for a single seat go on to the November 20 general election (R.S. 18:481 and 18:482), where the candidate with the most votes wins. If, when qualifying closes, the number of candidates does not exceed the number of seats, those candidates are declared elected and their names do not appear on the ballot (R.S. 18:511(B)).

When you qualify, you list your party on the notice of candidacy: the name of your recognized party, "other" if you are registered with a party that is not recognized, or "no party" (R.S. 18:463(A)(1)(a)). That designation cannot be changed after you qualify.

Key 2027 dates at a glance.

The fall dates are one week earlier than the usual formula would give, because the general election would otherwise fall on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, when no election may be held (R.S. 18:402(A)). Our Louisiana 2027 election calendar lists every date in order, including the November early voting and mail ballot deadlines.

Step 1

Check that you qualify.

Every candidate must be a qualified elector, which means registered to vote, and must meet the office's requirements by the time they qualify. Residency and domicile periods are measured as of the date of qualifying (R.S. 18:451). Check these before August, because you certify on the notice of candidacy that you meet them.

Office requirements. The Secretary of State's qualifications chart summarizes the rules for each office:

• Sheriff, clerk of court and assessor: at the time you file, you must have lived in Louisiana for the preceding two years and been actually domiciled in the parish for the preceding year (R.S. 18:451.2).
• Coroner: a licensed physician, unless no licensed physician in the parish will accept the office (La. Const. Art. V, Sec. 29), with residency rules described in our assessor, clerk of court and coroner guide.
• Police juror: at least 18, living in Louisiana for the preceding two years, and actually domiciled in the district for the preceding year. Parish council members and parish presidents follow their parish's home rule charter.
• State senator or representative: at least 18, living in Louisiana for the preceding two years, and actually domiciled in the legislative district for the preceding year (La. Const. Art. III, Sec. 4(A)).

Rules that can disqualify a candidate.

• Felonies. No one under an order of imprisonment for a felony may qualify (R.S. 18:451). The constitution also bars a person convicted of a felony who has not been pardoned, unless more than five years have passed since the original sentence was completed (La. Const. Art. I, Sec. 10.1, as quoted by the Secretary of State).
• One office at a time. You may not be a candidate for more than one office in the same election, except for membership on a political party committee (R.S. 18:453).
• Tax returns. You certify that you filed federal and state income tax returns for each of the previous five tax years, filed for an extension, or were not required to file (R.S. 18:463(A)(2)).

Step 2

Choose the qualifying fee or a nominating petition.

You qualify by filing a notice of candidacy "accompanied either by a nominating petition or by the qualifying fee and any additional fee imposed" (R.S. 18:461(A)(1)). A candidate who files a petition pays no qualifying fee or additional fee.

The fees are set by R.S. 18:464(B), and the signature numbers by R.S. 18:465(C), as shown on the Secretary of State's fee chart revised in June 2026. A party's state central committee and parish executive committee may each add a fee of up to half the qualifying fee for candidates affiliated with that party (R.S. 18:464(C) and (D)). The Secretary of State's chart lists these additional fees for Democratic and Republican candidates, and the parish committee fee applies only where the parish committee has assessed it. Ask your clerk of court for the exact total for your office and party.

How the petition works. Signers must be registered to vote on the office you seek. They may sign no earlier than Monday, April 5, 2027, which is 120 days before qualifying opens. You must submit the petition to the registrar of voters in each parish where your signers live by Tuesday, July 6, 2027. The registrar certifies the signatures and returns the original to you, and you file it with your notice of candidacy. Our guide to qualifying in Louisiana by fee or nominating petition covers the form line by line.

Step 3

Qualify with the clerk of court, August 3 to 5.

Parish and legislative candidates qualify with the clerk of court for the parish in which they are registered to vote (R.S. 18:462(B)). Qualifying for the October 9 primary opens on Tuesday, August 3 and closes at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, August 5, 2027 (R.S. 18:467 and 18:468).

• Sign before a notary or two witnesses. The certificate on the notice must be executed before a notary public or witnessed by two persons (R.S. 18:463(A)(2)(b)).
• Bring your identification. You must show a valid Louisiana driver's license or Louisiana identification card (R.S. 18:461(A)(1)).
• Pay in an accepted form. The fee is paid in cash, by certified or cashier's check on a state or national bank or credit union, by a U.S. postal money order, or a money order issued by a state or national bank or credit union (R.S. 18:464(A)).
• Choose your ballot name with care. You may use your given name, initials, a nickname in quotation marks, or a combination, with your surname. You may not use a title or an occupational description (R.S. 18:463(A)(1)(b)).
• Read every certification. The notice includes several signed certifications. Read each one before you sign, and check with the Louisiana Board of Ethics for any other filings that apply to your campaign.
• File in person if you can. You may also qualify by certified mail or commercial carrier, or through an agent with a signed affidavit, but the notice counts only if the clerk receives it during the qualifying period (R.S. 18:461(A)(2); 18:466).

After you qualify. A court action objecting to a candidacy must be filed by 4:30 p.m. on the seventh day after qualifying closes (R.S. 18:1405(A)), which is Thursday, August 12, 2027, based on state law. Grounds include failing to qualify in the manner or time the law requires and not meeting the qualifications of the office (R.S. 18:492). Keep copies of everything you filed.

Step 4

Plan the campaign around the October 9 primary.

Qualifying closes 65 days before the primary, but most of a local campaign happens before qualifying. If you plan to use a nominating petition, your first conversations with voters start in April. Four voter dates shape the final weeks:

• Wednesday, September 8 and Saturday, September 18, 2027: the registration deadlines in person or by mail, and online. Remind supporters who have moved to update their registration.
• Saturday, September 25 to Saturday, October 2, 2027: early voting, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday at the registrar's office or other locations the registrar sets (R.S. 18:1309).
• Tuesday, October 5, 2027: the deadline to request a mail ballot from the registrar of voters.
• Saturday, October 9, 2027: primary day, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.

One rule matters for every campaign. The notice of candidacy includes a certification that you know the prohibitions on placing campaign signs on any highway right-of-way, publicly owned property or right-of-way, or utility pole (R.S. 18:463(A)(3)). Ask supporters before you place a sign in their yard, and keep signs off public property.

Many local campaigns rely on conversations at the door. A simple approach is to divide your district into areas, visit each area once before early voting opens, and return to households that were undecided. If volunteers help, Beacon, a door-to-door canvassing app, lets you draw turf (the area each volunteer covers) on a map, assign it, give canvassers walk lists ordered by distance, and record a result at each door, such as contacted, not home or come back later.

Our campaign plan to the October 9, 2027 Louisiana primary turns these dates into a schedule. If your race goes to the general election, the pattern repeats: online registration closes on Saturday, October 30, early voting runs from Friday, November 5 to Saturday, November 13, and the election is on Saturday, November 20, 2027.

Step 5

Text the supporters who asked to hear from you.

Text messages reach supporters when early voting opens and in the last days of the campaign. Set texting up in this order with CampaignCNX+.

1. Form your committee and get an EIN. Campaign Verify is the check that confirms to the carriers (the mobile phone companies) that a political sender is a real campaign. It is open to 527 committees (527 is the federal tax status of a political committee) that have an EIN (the committee's federal tax ID number) and a filing with an election authority that is published online. Candidates with no committee, and sole proprietors, are not eligible. Check with the Louisiana Board of Ethics for any other filings that apply to your campaign.
2. Check that your filing is viewable online. Before you request Campaign Verify, confirm that your committee's filing can be found online. If you cannot find it, contact Campaign Verify Support before you pay. Campaign Verify decides eligibility, and we cannot promise it.
3. Request at the right time. Campaign Verify costs $95 per two-year cycle, and the PIN goes only to the contact details on your filing. A request made before Sunday, November 15, 2026 expires on Sunday, January 31, 2027. A request made on or after November 15, 2026 lasts until Wednesday, January 31, 2029, which covers both the October 9 primary and the November 20 general election.
4. Open your account and let CampaignCNX+ file your registration. CampaignCNX+ files your carrier registration for you, either 10DLC (the registration for texting from a standard local-style number, a one-time $75 for your first local line) or toll-free. For a toll-free number, the carrier review usually takes about three business days. You buy the $95 Campaign Verify token from Campaign Verify, and CampaignCNX+ files it with your registration.
5. Add only people who gave written permission. Text supporters who gave prior express written consent, for example on a sign-up sheet that plainly says they agree to receive campaign texts, with the date recorded. Record the consent date and source in a custom field, tag where you met each person, and put supporters in a group. Never text everyone who signed your nominating petition or everyone on a voter list.
6. Write short messages and schedule them. Keep each text under 160 characters, name the campaign, and end the first message with "Reply STOP to opt out." STOP, HELP and START replies are handled automatically. Texts send only between 8 a.m. and 9 p.m. in the recipient's time zone, so schedule early voting and primary reminders inside those hours.

100 free SMS included. Your number is $5 a month, and the free texts can be used once your number is bought and approved. After that, pay-as-you-go texting costs $0.06 per SMS segment, and the Basic plan is $55 a month for 1,000 texts. For the full setup, read texting voters in a Louisiana local race. Our post on Campaign Verify for local candidates explains verification in more depth, and our political texting page covers texting for any campaign.

Guides for each part of the race.

• Louisiana 2027 election calendar for parish and state candidates
• How to run for sheriff in Louisiana
• How to run for police jury or parish council in Louisiana
• How to run for assessor, clerk of court or coroner in Louisiana
• How to run for the Louisiana Legislature
• Qualifying for office in Louisiana: the fee or a nominating petition
• A campaign plan to the October 9, 2027 Louisiana primary
• Texting voters in a Louisiana local race: consent and setup