# Josh Carlson

Josh Carlson is a Republican member of the Louisiana House for district 43.

- Party: Republican
- Seat: Louisiana House, district 43
- Serving since: 2024-01-08
- Current term: LA 2025–26 session
- Open States ID: ocd-person/85df7a11-9edb-4e27-b7ce-60ffe7b35d39

Source: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/85df7a11-9edb-4e27-b7ce-60ffe7b35d39 (America’s Political Pulse, Polarization Research Lab), data through 2026-10-27. Data under CC BY 4.0. Cite as: Westwood, Sean J., and Yphtach Lelkes. 2024. America's Political Pulse [data set].

## Headline

Carlson sits at +0.59 on the CSIP scale, more conservative than 85% of State House Republicans.

## What Carlson says (LA 2025–26 session)

8 classified statements: 8 posts on X. Each rate is the share of statements with the label, against the State House Republicans average; rank 1 is the highest rate.

| Label | Carlson | State House Republicans average | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| Personal attacks | 0.0% | 2.9% | 643 of 792 |
| Policy criticism | 0.0% | 9.3% | 736 of 792 |
| Policy discussion | 37.5% | 31.9% | 303 of 792 |
| Bipartisanship | 0.0% | 1.8% | 678 of 792 |
| Credit claiming | 25.0% | 12.7% | 109 of 792 |
| Extreme labels | 0.0% | 1.4% | 619 of 792 |

Most discussed policy areas: Education 67% (State House Republicans 15%); Transportation and Public Works 33% (State House Republicans 4.4%); Agriculture and Food 0% (State House Republicans 4.4%); Armed Forces and National Security 0% (State House Republicans 4.9%); Civil Rights and Liberties, Minority Issues 0% (State House Republicans 6.2%).

## Ideology (CSIP)

CSIP score +0.59 (standard error 0.02), from 97 donors and 440 roll calls. Negative is left of 0, positive right of it, on one scale for every official. 85% of State House Republicans score lower.

## Votes (LA 2025–26 session)

2,668 roll calls. Attendance 86% (Louisiana House 90.7%). Party unity 97.7% (89%). 86 votes against the party majority.

Key votes:

- 2026-06-01 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1848) · SB 237 CHILDREN: Provides relative to child welfare. (8/1/26) (EN NO IMPACT See Note) · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB237/
- 2026-05-29 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1650) · SB 132 SCHOOLS: Provides that each public school board is to install exterior master key boxes to allow for rapid entry, response, and rescue by law… · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB132/
- 2026-05-29 · voted nay · FINAL PASSAGE (#1647) · SB 228 LOCAL FINANCE: Constitutional amendment to allow for the use of public funds to replace drinking water utility service lines located on private… · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB228/
- 2026-05-29 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1634) · SB 202 ELECTIONS DEPARTMENT: Provides for the increase of parish board of election supervisor meetings in certain parishes for certain races. (8/1/26) (EN… · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB202/
- 2026-05-29 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1644) · SB 513 PUBLIC CONTRACTS: Provides for public works project delivery methods. (8/1/26) · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB513/
- 2026-05-29 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1651) · SB 25 REGISTRARS OF VOTERS: Adjusts compensation schedule for Registrar of Voters. (7/1/26) (EN +$496,168 GF EX See Note) · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB25/
- 2026-05-29 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1762) · SB 80 COMMERCIAL REGULATIONS: Provides for the regulation of certain broadband services. (8/1/26) (EN NO IMPACT See Note) · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB80/
- 2026-05-29 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1645) · SB 268 LOCAL FINANCE: Provides for lead service line replacement. (8/1/26) · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB268/
- 2026-05-29 · voted yea · FINAL PASSAGE (#1638) · SB 406 TAX/LOCAL: Authorizes the city of Slidell to levy a hotel occupancy tax. (gov sig) (EN +$590,000 LF RV See Note) · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB406/
- 2026-05-29 · voted not voting · FINAL PASSAGE (#1641) · SB 433 MEDICAID: Provides for Medicaid coverage of certain medications. (1/1/27) (EN +$3,000,000 GF EX See Note) · pass · https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/SB433/

## Legislation (LA 2025–26 session)

Sponsored 30 bills: 24 reached committee, 11 passed one chamber, 9 passed both, 9 became law. Cosponsored 95. 36.7% of sponsored bills got out of committee (Louisiana House 47.9%; rank 73 of 101).

Recent sponsored bills:

- HR 264: BUDGETARY CONTROLS: Directs the Board of Regents and certain Boards of Supervisors of public postsecondary education institutions to conduct a fiscal review… (introduced, 2026-05-13) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HR264/
- HR 260: INSURANCE: Requests the Department of Insurance to study the impact on automobile insurance rates when bodily injury claimants submit medical treatment claims… (in committee, 2026-05-28) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HR260/
- HR 230: COMMENDATIONS: Commends Pamela Granger and McBade Engineering for ten years of business in Youngsville and the Lafayette area (introduced, 2026-05-21) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HR230/
- HR 177: SPECIAL DAY/WEEK/MONTH: Designates May 2026 as ALS Awareness Month in Louisiana (introduced, 2026-04-24) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HR177/
- HB 1093: HEALTH: Creates the Louisiana Board of Naturopathic Medicine (in committee, 2026-04-01) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HB1093/
- HB 1188: CONSUMERS/PROTECTION: Provides relative to protections for minors regarding use of chatbots (in committee, 2026-04-01) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HB1188/
- HB 1184: PUBLIC CONTRACTS: Prohibits public contracts with entities owned or controlled by foreign adversaries for the provision of artificial intelligence technology… (in committee, 2026-04-01) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HB1184/
- HR 80: LEGISLATIVE AUDITOR: Directs the legislative auditor to conduct a comprehensive fiscal audit of all state and federal funds expended by the Board of Regents… (in committee, 2026-05-12) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HR80/
- HB 1002: CIVIL/PROCEDURE: Provides relative to recoverable medical expenses (in committee, 2026-03-25) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HB1002/
- HB 620: TAX/SALES & USE: (Constitutional Amendment) Authorizes the legislature to provide by law for the collection of all sales and use taxes imposed by any taxing… (in committee, 2026-03-09) https://openstates.org/la/bills/2026/HB620/

## Campaign money (2026 cycle)

Itemized receipts $24.8K (State House Republicans median $33.7K). 100% of itemized individual money came from in state. Aggregates only; no individual donors.

## Recent statements

Newest first. Posts on X are listed by date and link only.

- 2026-07-13 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/2076711366669336990
- 2026-06-12 · Post on X · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/2065521010602803458
- 2025-05-07 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/1919958851811508410
- 2025-04-12 · Post on X · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/1911168046942527755
- 2025-03-29 · Post on X · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/1905977464725139897
- 2025-03-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/1903164659907080635
- 2025-02-21 · Post on X · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/1893003617600164189
- 2025-01-23 · Post on X · labels: policy discussion, credit claiming · https://x.com/joshuapcarlson/status/1882514422415204510

## Links

- Official site: https://house.louisiana.gov/H_Reps/members?ID=43
- Campaign site: https://www.votecarlson.com/
- X: https://x.com/joshuapcarlson
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joshuapaulcarlson
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joshuacarlson
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@committeetoelectjoshcarlso9543
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuapcarlson/

Full profile, with every chart and the methods: https://americaspoliticalpulse.com/p/85df7a11-9edb-4e27-b7ce-60ffe7b35d39