East Baton Rouge Parish School System recall, Louisiana (2024-2025)

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  • 2024 year-end analysis
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  • 2023 mid-year analysis
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  • 2022 mid-year analysis
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  • 2021 mid-year analysis
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  • 2020 mid-year analysis
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East Baton Rouge Parish School System recall
Officeholders
Mark Bellue Nathan Rust Michael Gaudet Emily Soulé Patrick Martin
Recall status
Did not go to a vote
Signature requirement
Bellue: 7,514 Rust: 7,010 Gaudet: 6,689 Soulé: 7,609 Martin: 7,501
See also
Recall overview Political recall efforts, 2025 Recalls in Louisiana Louisiana recall laws School board recalls Recall reports

An effort to recall five of the nine members of the East Baton Rouge Parish School System school board in Louisiana did not go to a vote. The effort began in July 2024. District 1 representative Mark Bellue (R), District 6 representative Nathan Rust (R), District 7 representative Michael Gaudet (R), District 8 representative Emily Soulé (R), and District 9 representative Patrick Martin (R) were named in the recall petitions.

The recall effort started after board members did not choose a new superintendent for the district during a meeting on July 11, 2024. The two finalists for the position both withdrew their nominations the following week. Interim Superintendent Adam Smith's contract was scheduled to end on July 23, 2024, due to a state law that required interim superintendents serve no more than six months. The board named LaMont Cole the district's new superintendent and approved his contract with a 7-0 vote on August 1, 2024.

Bellue assumed office in 2015 and was re-elected to a four-year term on the board in 2022. Gaudet assumed office in 2017 and won re-election in the same 2022 election. Rust and Martin were first elected to the board in the 2022 election, and Soulé won election to the board in a special election on March 23, 2024.

Recall supporters

Each recall petition said the board members were "not listening to the concerns of the voters of the district."

Recall opponents

Ballotpedia did not identify a public response to the recall effort.

Path to the ballot

See also: Laws governing recall in Louisiana

No specific grounds are required for recall in Louisiana. The recall process starts by filing a copy of the recall petition with the Louisiana Secretary of State. The number of signatures required on the petition depends on the size of the jurisdiction, with the smallest jurisdictions (fewer than 1,000 eligible voters) requiring signatures equal to 40% of eligible voters in the jurisdiction and the largest jurisdictions (100,000 or more eligible voters) requiring signatures equal to 20% of eligible voters in the jurisdiction. Recall supporters have 180 days to circulate petitions.

To get the recalls on the ballot, recall supporters would have had to collect the following number of signatures in 180 days:

• Recall against Bellue: 7,514 signatures
• Recall against Rust: 7,010 signatures
• Recall against Gaudet: 6,689 signatures
• Recall against Soulé: 7,609 signatures
• Recall against Martin: 7,501 signatures

2025 recall efforts

See also: School board recalls

Ballotpedia has tracked 12 school board recall efforts against 23 board members in 2025. Recall elections against two board members are being held on November 4, 2025.

The chart below details the status of 2025 recall efforts by individual school board member.