In the McGrathian Senate election held in Louisiana in 2026, Sergey Petrov defeated incumbent senator Mitch Landrieu. Sergey became the first Russian immigrant elected to the McGrathian Senate. He also became Louisiana’s first child senator. The election coincided with other senate elections in McGrathia.
Background
In the 2020 Senate Election, Mitch Landrieu, the former mayor of New Orleans, was narrowly elected to the McGrathian Senate, defeating Republican incumbent Bill Cassidy. During his time as senator, Landrieu was a vocal critic of President Joe McGrath, often calling for Joe to be impeached. The liberal attitudes expressed by Landrieu in the senate chamber made him unpopular among Louisiana’s conservative voting base. As such, his chances for re-election began to get worse for most of his tenure. Despite this, Landrieu announced his 2026 re-election bid in May 2025.
The Republicans, seeing child politicians as a good idea, began to support the idea of a child senator in Louisiana. Ultimately, with persuasion from President McGrath, a seven year old Russian boy named Sergey Petrov announced his campaign for Louisiana’s senate seat. During Sergey’s campaign, he was accompanied by his mother, Svetlana Petrov, for campaign events. Also, in order for her son to be eligible, Svetlana purchased as house in the town of Natchitoches, which is located in Northern Louisiana. Sergey also received carpetbagging allegations, since he previous didn’t reside in Louisiana before. These allegations were ignored.
In edition to Landrieu and Sergey, a third candidate entered the race in February 2026. The new candidate was Jase Robertson, a professional duck hunter who was a star on the reality TV show Duck Dynasty. Robertson ran as an independent, but he panned to join the Republican caucus in the McGrathian Senate upon winning the election.
General Election
Since Louisiana uses a “jungle primary”, then all candidates, regardless of party affiliation, would appear on the ballot. This wasn’t an issue in the election as Sergey, Robertson, and Landrieu were the only three candidates and belonged to different parties.
Results
Sergey Petrov won the election, carrying most of Louisiana’s parishes. Jase Robertson received second place, winning five parishes: Plaquemines, Jefferson, Saint Helena, West Baton Rouge, and Point Coupee. Landrieu was in third place, doing well in Orleans Parish, which is consolidated with the city of New Orleans. Landrieu also carried East Carroll and East Baton Rouge Parishes, but he failed to win other parishes.
Sergey was sworn in to the McGrathian Senate on January 3, 2027. He became the first child elected to the senate from Louisiana. He also became the first Russian immigrant elected to national office from a Southern state.