Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Davante Lewis is facing a vote to remove him as vice chairman after he criticized Gov. Jeff Landry (R) over a social media post in which Landry insulted a transgender Biden administration official.

It started on February 13 when Landry tweeted praise for Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., calling him a “major upgrade” at HHS over Admiral Rachel Levine, the former Assistant Secretary for Health and the first out transgender person appointed to a Senate-confirmed position. Kennedy did not replace Levine, as she served as assistant secretary.

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In the post on X, Landry chose a photo of her with a rainbow Pride pin. A few hours after Landry tweeted that, LPSC Chairman Lewis condemned Landry’s comments about Levine, calling them “cruel” and expressing disapproval towards conservatives for attacking transgender people because of their identity. Lewis, who is an out gay man, then called Landry an “as**ole.”

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Fellow Chairman Mike Francis called for Lewis’ removal from the commission, stating, “We should be above that kind of language when you’re talking about public servants.”

On what led him to criticize Gov. Landry, Lewis told Advocate that the “calling of my life to speak out for those who I feel are treated unnecessarily.”

“Dr. Levine has become this lightning rod for conservatives, not because she was not qualified, not because she had pushed a policy that they disagreed with, but simply because of who she was,” Lewis said. “And I am increasingly frustrated that the party that talks about decency all the time has adopted themselves to this cruelty.”

Lewis asserted that his use of profanity was justified.

“This wasn’t like I just unprovoked called the governor an as**ole — I was defending people from his behavior of being indecent.”

Landry has a history of being sensitive to public criticism. He has called on the Louisiana State University administration to discipline law professor Ken Levy. Levy criticized the governor in front of his class, using profanities to make his point. Levy has since been suspended from his teaching job and is suing the university, claiming that his First Amendment rights were violated.

Though uncertain, Lewis expects the commission to remove him as Republicans have a 3-2 majority on the commission. Despite this, Lewis remains optimistic and plans to approach the commission’s next meeting as usual with his plans to talk about the electric grid in Louisiana. 

“I’m entering this meeting to talk about the unreliable electric grid of Louisiana, to talk about whether or not we should assess another storm fee for our largest utility, whether or not we should have vegetation management,” Lewis said. “But if they are determined to make this political retribution the priority of our meeting tomorrow, then that’s their prerogative. I’m showing up to do the job that the third District of Louisiana elected me to do.”

Lewis claims that he will be contacting the ACLU of Louisiana, regardless of the outcomes of today’s vote.

The ACLU released a statement in support of him in which the group condemns the commission’s decision to bring a vote against him for criticism of the governor, arguing that it “sets a dangerous precedent that undermines democratic principles and threatens the constitutional right to free expression.” 

Lewis’ case bears similarities with that of Montana Republicans within the House of Representatives to ban Transgender Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr (D) from the Legislature after speaking in defense of trans youth. Zephyr was reelected.

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