Democrat Chasity Verret Martinez won Saturday’s special election for State House District 60, defeating Republican Brad Daigle.
Martinez, a member of the Iberville Parish Council, earned 62% of the vote against Daigle, a small-business owner and member of the Greater Baton Rouge Port Commission.
The Democrat received 5,159 of the 8,328 votes cast. All results are unofficial until they are certified by the Louisiana Secretary of State.
Martinez, who has served on the Parish Council since 2023, took a lead with early voting, which grew as more precincts reported results.
She now takes the vacant District 60 seat that opened in November when former Rep. Chad Brown, D-Plaquemine, left to become commissioner for the Department of Alcohol and Tobacco Control under Gov. Jeff Landry.
Brown had served as representative for about 10 years before his departure. Colleagues told The Advocate he had been looking for a landing spot, since he would be termed out of the Legislature in January 2028.
While Martinez took a nearly 2-to-1 victory, District 60 is a somewhat purple area, which voted for Donald Trump in each of his three elections, but also swung back to vote for Gov. John Bel Edwards in the Democrat’s 2019 reelection.
“Ready to vote for a leader with a history of showing up and speaking up for our people? Vote for a champion for Iberville and Assumption parishes today,” Martinez’s campaign said in an election day Facebook post.
