Members of the Public Service Commission voted 3 to 2, along party lines, Wednesday morning, to remove District 3 Commissioner Davante Lewis as vice chairman.
Chair Mike Francis called for the vote after Lewis used a derogatory term to describe Gov. Jeff Landry on social media.
Lewis, the first openly gay Black member of the PSC, was defending former Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary Rachel Levine, who is transgender.
This came after Landry shared a side-by-side photo on social media of Levine and her successor, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
“Major upgrade in the @HHSgov Secretary department,” Landry wrote.
Major upgrade in the @HHSgov Secretary department.
— Governor Jeff Landry (@LAGovJeffLandry) February 13, 2025
Lots of work to be done, and excited for @RobertKennedyJr to get started. Let’s Make America Healthy Again! pic.twitter.com/Nttzq4M7Dg
In response, Lewis called the governor an “a–hole.”
“ If you attack somebody that I love, I'm gonna call you out. If you don't defend the poor, I'm gonna call you out. If you don't stand up for everybody's rights, I'm gonna call you out. And if calling you out means you gotta shut me up, well then shut me up,” said Lewis.
During public comment before the vote, activist Melissa Flournoy said Lewis’ social media post was no reason to strip him of his leadership role.
“ If we believe in democracy, if we believe in the private speech of individuals on social media, this is not a cause to remove the vice chair,” said Flournoy.
Lewis is one of two Democrats in the five-member commission. The other Democrat, District 5 Commissioner Foster Campbell defended Lewis on Wednesday, and reminded members of a time when he was making a speech and Francis held up an offensive sign behind him.
“ I don't think anybody needs to be preaching today because, uh, Mr. Francis, I was making a speech one time, and I know what you did behind my back,” said Campbell.
“ I'm not going to apologize for my behavior when others can't do that,” Lewis said Thursday. “ It seems that if you're young, if you're Black, if you're outspoken, you got to do whatever the white man tells you to do. And I didn't come here to not use my voice.”
District 1 Commissioner Eric Skrmetta was elected to replace him as vice chair.
After the vote, Lewis tweeted a screenshot of a text message he claims he received from Francis, in which Francis called him a derogatory term. Lewis also said he wanted the commission to vote on a new chair.
You can watch the meeting in its entirety on the PSC’s YouTube page.
