BATON ROUGE — If signed into law, a new bill would send a constitutional amendment to place a lifetime term limit of two terms on governors to voters.

House Bill 225, authored by Rep. Mike Bayham (R-Chalmette), proposes an amendment that would restrict a person from running for more than two terms as governor at any point in their lifetime.

Under the current constitution, a person who has served for more than one-and-a-half terms is only barred from being elected for a succeeding term, meaning nonconsecutive terms were not barred. The new law would restrict that. 

If the bill becomes law, the amendment would appear on the Nov. 3 ballot as follows:

Do you support an amendment to provide that the limitation on gubernatorial terms is a lifetime limit? (Amends Article IV, Section 3(B))

In Louisiana's history, five governors served nonconsecutive terms, with Andre B. Roman, Francis T. Nicholls and Jimmie Davis serving two nonconsecutive terms, with Earl Long serving as governor three separate times.

Edwin Edwards is the most recent governor to serve as governor for multiple non-consecutive terms, being elected in 1972, 1984 and 1992. 

The 2026 legislative session starts on March 9.