The Bayou Progressive

08/28/2026

A Baton Rouge federal contractor gave $100,000 to a super PAC supporting Congresswoman Julia Letlow while it was still performing work under a NASA contract, according to a new FEC complaint.

Federal law prohibits federal contractors from making political contributions while covered by a federal contract.

Campaign Legal Center says MMR Constructors violated that prohibition when it gave $100,000 to Hope in Action PAC on March 31.

Hope in Action PAC has also funneled more than $2.8 million to another super PAC that has spent more than $9.5 million supporting Letlow’s Senate campaign.

Campaign Legal Center says MMR Constructors violated federal campaign finance law by making the six-figure political contribution while actively performing work for NASA.

08/28/2026

A protest can get people’s attention. Organizing is what turns that energy into power.

In this clip, All Streets, All People founder Omari Ho-Sang talks about the less glamorous work that happens after the march - building relationships, making asks, developing leaders and helping people take ownership of the issues that brought them into the fight in the first place.

The goal isn’t just to get people angry. It’s to move them from frustration into sustained civic action.

08/28/2026

“In order to change the political calculus of this state, we have to pay attention to what’s happening in North Louisiana.”

We sat down with Omari Ho-Sang, founder of All Streets, All People, ahead of ASAP’s Boots on the Ground Convening in Shreveport.

We talked about what real grassroots organizing looks like, why North Louisiana has too often been treated as an afterthought, the difference between mobilizing people for an election and building lasting political power, and why she rejects the idea that Louisiana’s political trajectory is simply a foregone conclusion.

Omari also breaks down ASAP’s effort to develop local leaders, organize at the precinct and block level, build its People’s Mandate, and move people from political frustration into actual civic power.

This is a substantive conversation about what it takes to build something that lasts beyond Election Day.

Watch the full interview.

08/27/2026

“In order to change the political calculus of this state, we have to pay attention to what’s happening in North Louisiana.”

That’s the argument Omari Ho-Sang and All Streets, All People - ASAP are bringing into this weekend’s Boots on the Ground Convening in .

With Louisiana’s fall elections approaching, ASAP is training organizers in political education, grassroots organizing and voter turnout. But Ho-Sang says the real goal is bigger than November: building local leaders, precinct-level teams and lasting community infrastructure in a part of the state too often overlooked until Election Day gets close.

“We won’t win unless people move.”

For Omari Ho-Sang, the political challenge facing North Louisiana is not simply convincing more people to vote in November. It is building the kind of organizing infrastructure that can reach people long before an election, develop local leaders and continue holding public officials accountable afte...

08/25/2026

Louisiana’s congressional primary cancellation didn’t just change the calendar. It changed the entire logic of campaigns already underway.

Lauren Jewett explains how the sudden shift disrupted fundraising, slowed endorsements and forced her campaign to restructure after months of planning around a head-to-head general election.

For smaller campaigns, changes like that aren’t abstract procedural headaches — they can mean lost momentum, fewer resources and months of work suddenly thrown into question.

Watch the full interview at BayouProgressive.com

08/23/2026

You don’t need Steve Scalise money to run for Congress. But you do have to get creative.

Lauren Jewett talks about what it means to run a congressional campaign without millions of dollars behind you — being resourceful, stretching every contribution and finding ways to build a real campaign with the resources you actually have.

It’s also part of her larger argument about who gets to run for office in the first place: campaigns shouldn’t be reserved for wealthy candidates or people with access to wealthy networks.

See the full interview at BayouProgressive.com

08/23/2026

“We just don’t write it off because they’re not gonna win.”

Lauren Jewett knows challenging House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District is an uphill battle. But her argument is that Democrats will never become competitive in places like LA-1 if they decide those communities aren’t worth fighting for before voters ever cast a ballot.

We sat down with Jewett for a wide-ranging conversation about why she’s running, the case she’s making against Scalise after 18 years in Congress, and what she believes working people are missing from their representation in Washington.

Jewett talks candidly about affordability and insurance, education, Louisiana’s coast and energy economy, immigration, Gaza and Iran. She explains why she has signed a pledge to abolish ICE — while supporting a replacement immigration enforcement agency — and why she believes Louisiana should impose a moratorium on new AI data centers while their environmental and energy impacts are studied.

Watch our full interview with Lauren Jewett. (Audio improves at the 9:20 mark.)

08/22/2026

Lauren Jewett knows what she’s up against.

The Democratic candidate for Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District is challenging House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in one of the most reliably Republican districts in the state.

But after a year that saw Louisiana’s congressional elections canceled, the maps redrawn and the rules changed mid-campaign, Jewett says writing off difficult races is exactly how Democrats got here.

“We just don’t write it off because they’re not gonna win.”

The Metairie teacher challenging House Majority Leader Steve Scalise is running on affordability, education and environmental protection — while embracing some sharply progressive positions on ICE, Gaza and the rapidly expanding AI industry.

08/22/2026

Gov. Jeff Landry says he won’t speak to New Orleans Mayor Helena Moreno.

But when Moreno thanked Louisiana National Guard troops for eight months of service without thanking Landry or Donald Trump, the governor made sure everyone knew he noticed.

Quentin Anthony Anderson looks at the pettiness — and the much bigger questions underneath it about why the troops were sent, what Moreno was actually thanking them for, and how quickly Americans are being conditioned to accept military deployments at home.

As the National Guard Leaves New Orleans, Landry Wants Credit From a Mayor He Refuses to Speak To

08/21/2026

Next The Bayou Progressive interview with Lauren Jewett incoming...