Davante Lewis, a progressive advocate for clean energy, unseated three-term incumbent Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Lambert Boissiere III on Saturday in a runoff election for a seat on the five-person commission.
Lewis won 59% of the votes from 738 of the PSC District 3’s 748 precincts, which stretch from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. He had 18% of the vote in last month’s primary, the highest among Boissiere’s four challengers; two of those later endorsed Lewis.
The 30-year-old Lewis is currently director of public affairs for the Louisiana Budget Project, which monitors and reports on public policy and how it affects Louisiana’s low- to moderate-income families. He ran on a platform of reaching 100% renewable electricity by 2035, hardening the grid against increasingly severe hurricanes, cracking down on excessive fees by utilities and instituting a Ratepayers’ Bill of Rights.
As an incumbent, Boissiere was saddled with an environment in which customer bills were rising after last year’s hurricane season left millions without power, some for weeks.
“Tonight, we have begun a new chapter for Louisiana,” Lewis told his supporters Saturday night at a Baton Rouge pub. “Tonight, the people of Louisiana start taking our power back. Tonight, Louisiana has a public service commissioner who’s unafraid to hold Entergy accountable, because I owe this victory to the people of Louisiana and their commitment to a brighter, cleaner and 100% renewable future.”
Lewis was supported by contributions from environmental groups, including a super PAC aligned with the Environmental Defense Fund that raised about $1.1 million after getting involved in the race during the primary. Boissiere, who was first elected to a six-year term on the PSC in 2004, drew support from utilities and lobbyists, Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) and U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D), whose district encompasses much of the commission’s District 3.
Lewis and Boissiere are both Democrats; Republicans will hold a 3-2 edge on the commission.
