A federal judge is set to hold a hearing in the dispute over who will to be the next chief justice of Louisiana's Supreme Court.
Louisiana's constitution says the longest-serving of the seven justices must get the top spot.
Bernette Johnson has served on the court since 1994 but supporters of fellow justice Jeffrey Victory say Johnson's first years shouldn't count. She was elected from an appeals court district and assigned to the higher court under a civil rights lawsuit settlement.
It's decision-time for anyone still on the fence about jumping into a race for Louisiana's Nov. 6 election.
Candidates must file paperwork this week if they want to run for office. Qualifying starts Wednesday morning and runs through Friday at 5 p.m.
Top of the ballot around the state will be Louisiana's six U.S. House seats, including one race between two Republican incumbents — Charles Boustany and Jeff Landry — who were forced into the same district when the state lost a congressional seat because of population adjustments.
A power struggle on the Louisiana Supreme Court is headed to federalcourt this week. Lawyers are seeking to reopen an old voting rights case that gave the Deep South state its first black Supreme Court justice. What's at stake in the racially charged fight is whether Louisiana will now have its first African-American chief justice.
