Louisiana ballot measure · November 3, 2026
Louisiana Amendment 4, explained
Lifetime two-term limit for governor. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.
The official wording
Do you support an amendment to prohibit a person who has served more than one and one-half terms as governor from being elected as governor for any future term? (Amends Article IV, Section 3(B))
This is what appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
What it actually means
Louisiana now limits a governor to two consecutive terms. After sitting out a term, a former governor can run again, and there is no cap on the total. This amendment would make it a lifetime limit: once someone has served more than one and a half terms as governor, they could never be elected governor again.
If you vote YES
- Anyone who has served more than one and one-half terms as governor could not be elected governor for any future term.
- The current two-consecutive-term rule would become, in effect, a lifetime maximum of two terms.
- Louisiana would move from the 28 states with consecutive-term limits to the nine with lifetime limits.
- Former governors who have served two terms — including John Bel Edwards, whom the sponsor's critics say the amendment is aimed at — would be permanently barred from running again.
If you vote NO
- Article IV, Section 3(B) would continue to bar only three consecutive terms. A governor could serve two terms, sit out one, and run again, with no lifetime cap.
- Every former Louisiana governor who has been out of office for a term would remain eligible to run.
- Louisiana would remain among the majority of term-limited states that restrict consecutive terms rather than total service.
Why supporters say YES
"[HB 225] would guarantee the opportunity for new blood and fresh perspective. The amendment will put distance between the political past that has defined us. It's an opportunity to move beyond personality cults."
— State Rep. Michael Bayham (R-103), the amendment's sponsor
Why opponents say NO
"The author said publicly that [HB 225] was about preventing John Bel Edwards from becoming governor again. If we were really worried about incumbents abusing power, we would include all the other statewide offices where we've seen incumbents abuse power as much as [the] governor."
— State Rep. Mark Wright (R-77)
What’s genuinely uncertain
- The threshold is "more than one and one-half terms," not two terms, which means someone who finished a predecessor's partial term plus one full term could be caught by it; the amendment does not spell out how partial terms are counted beyond that phrase.
- This is the only one of the ten amendments where the legislative vote was largely along party lines: the House passed it 73-25 and the Senate 28-10.
- No committee has registered on either side, and no fiscal note was located.
The bottom line
Whether Louisiana should permanently bar a two-term governor from ever returning to the office; its sponsor says it forces turnover, a fellow Republican says it is aimed at one former governor and leaves every other statewide office untouched.
One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.
Checking it against the official text
The Louisiana Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.
Confirm this with the official source
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at Louisiana Secretary of State.
Other measures on the Louisiana ballot
- Amendment 1 — Transferring a disabled veteran's surviving spouse property tax exemption
- Amendment 2 — Letting local governments lower a millage and later restore it
- Amendment 3 — No post-conviction bail for aggravated offenses against a minor
- Amendment 5 — Which pension debt one-time state money must pay down first
- Amendment 6 — Additional property tax exemption for homeowners 65 and older
- Amendment 7 — Public money to replace lead and other hazardous water lines on private property
- Amendment 8 — Barring foreign adversaries from expropriating property
- Amendment 9 — Raising the income limit for the senior assessment freeze to $150,000
- Amendment 10 — Property tax exemption for rehabilitated blighted property
Candidates on the same ballot
- U.S. Senate election in Louisiana
- Louisiana's 1st congressional district
- Louisiana's 2nd congressional district
- Louisiana's 3rd congressional district
- Louisiana's 4th congressional district
- Louisiana's 5th congressional district
- Louisiana's 6th congressional district