← Election Series · Down-ballot coverage · Louisiana
Endorses Cole
The race
Louisiana Supreme Court, District 3, is uncontested: Cade Cole (R) drew no opponent in qualifying and is re-elected to a full 10-year term. Barring a write-in upset, Cole holds the seat.
Cole's file is a specialist's: Louisiana's first state and local tax judge before his election to the Supreme Court in 2025 (Tulane University and Tulane Law, with CALI awards in tax and energy law); law clerk to Justice Jeannette Knoll; private practice in Lake Charles in complex business and tax litigation and appellate work; a trained mediator (Pepperdine's Straus Institute) who mediated more than 1,500 cases and was asked by state and federal judges to serve as special master designing the program that expedited more than 10,000 Hurricane Laura lawsuits — the largest disaster-docket cleanup in the state's recent history. On the court he chairs the Judicial Budgetary Control Board and sits on the Judicial Council. His district covers southwestern Louisiana with Lake Charles as its hub, plus part of Shreveport and southern Caddo Parish.
Pros and cons
Cole: Credits: Deep technical command of tax and business law, a proven record of moving impossible dockets (10,000-plus hurricane cases), and budget-board responsibility on the court. Dirt/limits: No ethics file surfaced; his Supreme Court tenure began in 2025, so the appellate record is young — unproven in length, not in quality of the work documented so far.
OUR CALL
Our call: endorse Cade Cole. A Republican justice whose verified record — tax judging, appellate practice, and the Hurricane Laura special-master program — affirmatively aligns with our values of competence, due process, and courts that work. Uncontested does not mean unexamined; this file was examined, and it earns the endorsement.
Vote Cade Cole.
For the complete Election 2026 breakdown — every race, claim by claim — see the full coverage on our website. Vote early. Research your candidates. Choose the best moderates, whatever their party — no extremism from either side. And encourage your friends and family to do the same. --- Sources — Louisiana Judiciary — Justice Cade Cole biography — https://www.louisianajudiciary.com/judges/james-t-genovese/ (Cole profile as carried on the judiciary directory) • Shreveport Times — Cole and McCallum re-elected without opposition, February 16, 2026 — https://www.shreveporttimes.com/story/news/2026/02/16/two-republican-judges-representing-shreveport-and-bossier-elected-to-louisiana-supreme-court/88702383007/ • Louisiana Supreme Court — current composition (Cole, Dist. 3, R, Tulane) — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louisiana_Supreme_Court AI-assisted article — but the sources are human, and the facts are very real.