Judge Hunter Qualifies

Three Democratic hopefuls are vying to become the second Black justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court, representing a newly re-carved district in November.

First Circuit Court of Appeal Chief Judge John Michael Guidry will battle Second Circuit Appellate Judge Marcus Hunter and Leslie Ricard Chambers, a Policy Advisor to former Gov. Jon Bel Edwards.

All three are graduates of the Southern University Law Center.

It’s a monumental race poised to add an African American judge to the seven seats on the state’s court of authority. 

State lawmakers reapportioned the high court's judicial boundaries during this year’s legislative session to create a second majority-Black voting district. It was the first time Louisiana revamped its Supreme Court map since 1997, when a federal court order forced lawmakers to carve out the state’s first majority-minority district in Orleans Parish. Justice Piper Griffin currently holds that seat on the state Supreme Court; her term ends in 2030.