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Louisiana PSC votes to replace Vice Chairman Devonte Lewis after heated public comment
Summary
The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted to replace Vice Chairman Devonte Lewis with Commissioner SCA after an extended public-comment period in which dozens of speakers defended Lewis’s private social-media speech as protected political expression.
The Louisiana Public Service Commission voted to remove Devonte Lewis as vice chairman and replace him with Commissioner SCA following an extended public-comment period and a contested roll call.
Chairman Francis moved to replace Commissioner Lewis as vice chair, prompting a wave of public testimony. Dozens of citizens, community leaders and advocacy-group representatives urged the commission to reject the motion, arguing that Lewis’s off-duty social‑media remarks are protected political speech and unrelated to his official duties. Melissa Floi, board chair of the advocacy group 10,000 Women, told the commission it was “not appropriate to ask to remove Commissioner Lewis” over private speech, and Alfreda Tillman Bester, a lawyer and vice chair of 10,000 Women Louisiana, said the effort resembled an attempt to “silence dissent.”
Commissioner Campbell objected to using board officers to settle personal disagreements and said he would not vote to remove Lewis. Commissioner Lewis said he would not apologize for expressing his views and emphasized that he ran for office to “do the work of the people.” After debate and a late change of vote by one member, the motion carried by a narrow margin and Commissioners announced Commissioner SCA as the new vice chairman.
Supporters who spoke during the public comment period emphasized Lewis’s record representing District 3 and urged the commission to focus on utility regulation rather than internal political disputes. Several speakers explicitly framed their appeals in free-speech terms: “We are here because Chairman Francis alleges that he was embarrassed that Devonte Lewis exercised his First Amendment right,” one commenter said.
The action changed the commission’s leadership assignment but did not remove Commissioner Lewis from office. Commissioners did not announce any further disciplinary measures at the meeting. The commission moved on to the rest of its agenda after the vote and a short recess.
The commission did not cite a formal ethics ruling or statute during the roll-call discussion; commissioners framed the vote as a leadership re‑assignment. The commission will continue its scheduled business at future meetings.
