BATON ROUGE - Nearly half of Louisiana's state lawmakers won re-election without having to go to the voters, when no one signed up to challenge them.

Twenty of 39 senators and 49 of 105 House members drew no opponents in this week's candidate registration period. One representative who won without opposition and will take office in January has never been in the Legislature.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler said he was stunned how many officials around Louisiana were elected automatically when no one qualified to run against them. He cited continued voter apathy, locally and nationally.

Barry Erwin, president of the Council For A Better Louisiana, said the state's difficult and continued budget problems likely have lessened interest in legislative seats. Erwin said: "It's just not a pleasant place to be right now."