No surprises: Trump, Johnson carry Lincoln Parish on Election Day
AP photo by Evan Vucci
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, Melania Trump and Barron Trump arrive to speak at an election night watch party, early Wednesday morning in West Palm Beach, Fla.
AP file photo by J. Scott Applewhite
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks at the Capitol in Washington earlier this summer. Johnson won reelection in his home state of Louisiana Tuesday.
In an election with no local surprises, Lincoln Parish voters on Tuesday backed Republican President- elect Donald Trump in his bid to return to the White House.
Local voters also helped GOP incumbent U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson keep his 4th Congressional District seat.
Complete but unofficial returns show in the presidential race, Trump received 62% of the Lincoln Parish vote to Democrat Vice President Kamala Harris’ 36%, while in the congressional race, Johnson polled 81% of the vote to fellow Republican Josh Morott’s 19%.
Tuesday’s 65% voter turnout was slightly lower than in 2016 and 2020, but Trump’s local margin of victory was more this year than in either of his two previous runs.
Four years ago, Trump won 59% of the local vote to then-Vice President Joe Biden’s 39%. In 2016, Trump garnered 58% of the local vote to Democrat former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s 38%.
Trump was expected to carry the parish again this year. Lincoln Parish hasn’t voted for a Democrat since 1996 when former President Bill Clinton ran for his second term.
Tuesday’s voting totals showed Trump polled 11,128 votes — that’s the 62% — to Harris’ 6,627. The presidentelect carried 28 of the parish’s 50 precincts.
Harris carried precincts in Grambling, Simsboro, and in Ruston most of the precinct voting at the Civic Center, McLane Recreation Center, Luffey Catholic Life Center, Lincoln Parish School Board Media Center, Ruston Public Works Complex, Greenwood Recreation Center, I.A. Lewis School, and Catherine’s Dance Studio.
Meanwhile, Johnson, from Bossier Parish, cruised to an easy win. Locally, he received 12,850 Lincoln Parish votes to Morott’s 2,996.
Morott, also a Republican, is a substitute teacher from Vernon Parish who was making his first bid for office with no campaign organization and no money. Morott made no campaign stops in Lincoln Parish. Johnson, who made a campaign stop in Lincoln Parish on Saturday, has been on the road nationwide campaigning for Trump and trying to keep the GOP’s thin majority in the House.
Johnson was on stage with Trump Tuesday night in West Palm Beach, Florida, during the president-elect’s victory speech.
Lincoln Parish became part of the 4th District when the Louisiana Legislature voted for a remap plan that intentionally protected Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, and 5th District Congresswoman Julia Letlow who sits on the House Appropriations Committee.
Letlow and Scalise also won reelection Tuesday.
The 4th District includes all or part of 20 parishes encompassing Northwest Louisiana and a chunk of the southwestern part of the state.
Meanwhile, Lincoln Parish voters tracked their peers statewide in approving the lone state constitutional amendment on the ballot.
Voters said “yes” to allowing federal money Louisiana gets from alternative energy production to be dedicated to the Coastal Protection and Restoration Fund, where the funds can only be used for projects aimed at safeguarding Louisiana’s residents and businesses along the coast.
