— THE VOTE OF THE SESSION: The House voted last week to approve the enabling legislation for a constitutional convention by a 75-27 vote, five more than was needed. Gov. Jeff Landry took no chances, sitting in the chamber and personally lobbying lawmakers as one exception after another was tacked onto the bill. Members added amendments to protect the homestead exemption, K-12 funding formula, certain pensions and supplemental pay for law enforcement, though many agree nothing will be off the table if a convention is held. Eyes now turn to the Senate for what will be the most important floor vote of the session. Even though he won’t say as much, Senate President Cameron Henry is in the driver’s seat. Will Landry get to keep his delegates? Will the timeline be altered again? What else will be taken off the proverbial table? Will there be a convention at all? The answers could define the legislative tone for the rest of the term.

— SPEAKING OF CAMERON: As reported in Thursday’s issue of LaPolitics Weekly, Cameron Henry has a new and developing political brand as a come-see-me character at the Capitol — and as the upper chamber’s protector. Naturally, speculation often centers on the 1st Congressional District, should Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Henry’s political mentor, decides at some point to step aside. When asked if he would ever seek the seat, Henry said, “Nope.” In our LW coverage, we noted, “Whether folks in Capitoland buy the one-word answer is another matter entirely.” While Henry acknowledges politicians are going to politic, and some politicians even run for office after they say they’re not going to run (former Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin and former Congressman Ralph Abraham come to mind), Henry wanted to make sure everyone reading this knows “nope” means the following and nothing more: “Seriously. I’m not going to run for that seat. I just want to make sure I’m clear about that.” Put another way, Henry is doubling down on “nope.”

— WHAT ABOUT THE MAP? As we learned last week in Beltway Beat, Attorney General Liz Murrill said a three-judge panel “turned Louisiana’s Congressional elections upside down” by ruling the Legislature’s district map relies on race to an unconstitutional degree. The lower court gave the state until the end of this session to prepare a new map, or else the court would draw its remedial map for this year’s election. Given the unrealistic timeline — Secretary of State Nancy Landry says she would need a new map by Wednesday) — Murrill has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to put a hold on the lower court’s order while the state appeals the decision and allow the state to use the map created and implemented in 2022.

— LEADERSHIP FLASHBACK: This week’s LaPolitics Report Podcast (Spotify/Apple) flashes back to the very first episode featuring John Alario, one of only three American politicians to have served as both a House speaker and Senate president in the same state Legislature. Recorded in August 2016, Alario opened up about his future in politics, his greatest regret at the Capitol, the role of Donald Trump’s politics in Louisiana and — in a must-listen segment — the art of revenge. Plus, enjoy our regular blast-from-the-past audio file profiling Edgar “Sonny” Mouton, who ran for governor in 1979. Mouton’s bid fell short, but left behind some of the funniest oratory of the 1970s. (Last week, we also pulled another 2016 interview from the archives with then-House speaker and current Commissioner of Administration Taylor Barras, who explained how he learned about politics in a grocery store and described what it was like using Huey Long’s old desk. That episode (Spotify/Apple) kicked off with us dropping in on the final night of the 1979 regular session, including audio of Billy Tauzin’s rendition of Edgar Allan Poe’s best-known work and Bubba Henry’s imitation of Earl Long. And Errol Laborde of New Orleans magazine runs down Louisiana’s 10 most influential elections.)