New districts scramble candidate qualifying for Louisiana’s US House races • Louisiana Illuminator
Those hoping to run for Congress in Louisiana are qualifying for office this week. (Photo by Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
New political districts. New candidates. New election date.
Louisiana’s current U.S. House races might appear similar to those underway just three months ago before the May 16 congressional primary was canceled, but they’re not. Gov. Jeff Landry and state lawmakers dramatically altered Louisiana’s congressional district boundaries after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a landmark redistricting case allowed them to eliminate one of the state’s two majority-Black seats. Now, candidates who were originally running in the 5th District centered in Northeast Louisiana are competing in the 6th District, which runs down to Lafourche Parish.
For example, two Republican candidates, state Rep. Mike Echols of Monroe and state Sen. Rick Edmonds of Baton Rouge, were originally opponents in the 5th District race. But the congressional map reworking put Edmonds’ house…