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 in the 6th District, so they are no longer running against each other.
“With the twists and turns of this race, we’ve added some additional parishes [to the 5th District], which has been extraordinary,” Echols said shortly after qualifying Wednesday.
The political district changes might also put the two candidates with the most campaign cash on hand in different races.
Echols and state Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, have $1 million and $2 million in campaign funding in the bank, respectively. That’s at least three times more than any other candidate considering a run in either race, according to federal campaign finance reports filed in July.
Until the middle of May, the two men were running against each other in the 5th District, but it’s thought that Miguez might now join the 6th District race. The Baton Rouge house Miguez bought in March flipped from the 5th to the 6th District in the latest congressional map revisions, making it easier for him to run against Edmonds.
Miguez, who represents an Acadiana state Senate district outside the boundaries of both U.S. House seats, hasn’t clarified whether he’s still running for Congress and, if so, what district he will choose. He didn’t answer calls or text messages to his cell phone Wednesday.
If Miguez does run, Edmonds said will be happy to take him on in the 6th District. With $323,000 in his campaign account, Edmonds has a fraction of Miguez’s money but a longer history in the area where he’s running.
“I’m not new to this district,” Edmonds said after signing up to run for office Wednesday. “My family, my grandchildren, all are here, not 100 miles away.”
The recent changes to the congressional district boundaries have brought at least two candidates into the 5th District race. State Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, and state Rep. Gabe Firment, R-Pollock, signed up to run Wednesday.
Both candidates had not considered running for Congress before the map change. Until the end of May, their homes had been in the 4th District, represented by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton, who they wouldn’t want to challenge.
Two lower-profile candidates have also been affected by the new map.
Walter “Rocky” Beach of Gonzales, who’s not affiliated with a political party, signed up for the 2nd District race against incumbent U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans.
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Beach said he lived in the 2nd District under the map used earlier this year but was drawn out of the district when the boundaries changed in May. Congressional candidates are not required to live in their districts, but it can make it harder for them to attract voter support.
Michael Mebruer, a Republican running in the 6th District, said he was in the same position as Beach when he qualified Wednesday. His St. Francisville residence is in the 5th District, but he will now run in the 6th District because it includes Baton Rouge, where he said he feels more at home.
Congressional candidates will also meet in an open “jungle” primary Nov. 3, with all candidates competing against each other on one ballot. The May 15 election was supposed to be a closed partisan primary, where Democrats and Republicans were on two separate ballots. But the format changed when Gov. Jeff Landry issued an executive order to postpone those races after the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Callais v. Louisiana in April.
Several candidates who signed up to run for Congress Wednesday said they didn’t intend to alter the way they would campaign, even if the primary election format was different.
“So far it hasn’t changed much about the way I talk to people,” said Dan McKay, a Democrat from Bunkie running in the 5th District.
Others said it means they need a broader message to appeal to voters other than members of their own political party.
“We’re sending mail to everybody now instead of just one party,” Echols said.
Other candidates said shifting the U.S. House elections from May to November has been difficult for their campaigns in general.
Lauren Jewett, a Metairie Democrat running against House Majority Leader Steve Scalise in the 1st District, said she had to collect a second round of signatures for her nominating petition to qualify as a candidate again.
“The rules were changed in the middle of the game, and everyday voters and candidates like me — people without large teams of voters and lobbyists — were the ones left scrambling to figure out what district we now belong to,” Jewett said Wednesday. “This is not what democracy looks like.”
Jewett and Conrad Cable of Farmerville, a Democrat running against Johnson in the 4th District, will also have to go through their party’s nominating process again in late August. Both had secured Democratic nominations ahead of the May election but now need to campaign for their party’s support a second time.
Cable said he almost ended his election bid in May after the first primary was canceled.
“It disenfranchised me to the point where I felt like giving up,” he said Wednesday. “Instead, I dug in my heels and we kept this campaign alive through grit and determination.”
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