Democrat Chasity Martinez won the special election on Saturday for the Louisiana House District 60 seat, which was vacant after MAGA-aligned Republican Governor Jeff Landry appointed former State Rep. Chad Brown (D) as Louisiana’s Commissioner of Alcohol and Tobacco Control.
According to the Louisiana Secretary of State website, Martinez (a member of the Iberville Parish Council) defeated her Republican opponent Brad Daigle by receiving 62% of the vote. Daigle received about 38%.
Congratulations to Chasity Verret Martinez on her election to represent House District 60.
She was outspent 3-to-1 and still won. This is what happens when grassroots Democrats show up and organize.
Proud of this win and excited to keep building power together. #LaDemos pic.twitter.com/GnF9c9XZhR
— Louisiana Democrats (@LaDemos) February 8, 2026
While Martinez succeeded a Democrat, and the district has historically supported Democrats at the state and local level, President Donald Trump won District 60 all three times he ran for president including in 2024 against former Vice President Kamala Harris, when Trump carried the district by a 56‑43 margin.
According to Louisiana Democrats, the GOP poured a lot of money in the special election. They wrote of Martinez: “She was outspent 3-to-1 and still won. This is what happens when grassroots Democrats show up and organize.”
Replying to a post about Martinez’s win by Punchbowl’s Jake Sherman, the conservative Daily Caller‘s political editor Anthony Iafrate emphasized the perspective that though Trump won the area, Democrats have always held this seat.
I am absolutely not denying that there is a considerable shift toward Dems in special/off-year elections (that is clear as day)
BUT this district was not a GOP gain, it was a Dem hold (yes, despite it being a double digit Trump seat it was always represented by a Dem) and seems…
— Anthony Iafrate (@tonyiafratedc) February 8, 2026
Yet while characterizing the Martinez win as less than a game-changing result, Iafrate nevertheless acknowledged the “considerable shift toward Dems in special/off-year elections,” calling it “clear as day” and citing Taylor Rehmet’s recent victory over the Trump-endorsed Leigh Wambsganss in Texas as more alarming for the GOP. “While this result is certainly notable,” Iafrate wrote of Martinez, “it’s not the political earthquake that the Texas State Senate race was last week.”