The first day of qualifications for the November election brought few surprises as congressional candidates and their surrogates gathered in Baton Rouge to put their names on the ballot.
All six seats in the Louisiana House of Delegates are at stake, as well as one seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court and one seat on the State Civil Service Commission. There are also nine vacant seats on five state appeals courts, as well as several high-profile local races, including the East Baton Rouge mayoral race and the Orleans Parish School Board election.
The application period began Wednesday at 8 a.m. and ended Friday at 4:30 p.m. State candidates underwent qualification screening at the Louisiana State Archives in Baton Rouge, while local candidates went in person to their parish court clerk’s office.
One of Louisiana’s most closely watched races this year is the 6th Congressional District, which was redrawn this year to become a majority-black district at the expense of Republican Rep. Garrett Graves of Baton Rouge. Graves is not seeking reelection. Democratic Sen. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge is the favorite to win, and she formally announced her candidacy on Wednesday.
Fields said Wednesday that once she arrives in Washington, she will fight for key committee assignments, lower drug prices and expand broadband internet access. She said she will offer President Joe Biden her “full support” as long as he continues to seek the Democratic nomination. Fields served two terms in Congress from 1993 to 1996.
Baton Rouge Democrat Quentin Anthony Anderson registered to challenge Fields on Wednesday. Anderson has dismissed Fields as a con man who embezzled $20,000 from then-Governor Edwin Edwards in 1997. Fields has never been charged with a crime.
Also running in the race is former state senator and Republican attorney Elbert Guillory of Opelousas. Guillory, who is endorsed by the Louisiana Republican Party, said public schools are a “disaster,” crime is affecting Louisiana families and an “invasion” of illegal immigrants is bringing drugs, disease and crime to the country.
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter (D-New Orleans) has registered to defend his 2nd Congressional District seat through his proxy, state Rep. DeLisha Boyd. Boyd said Carter has campaigned with President Joe Biden at the NAACP convention in Las Vegas.
Carter faced off against at least one challenger on Wednesday, Shondrell Perrilloux, a Republican from LaPlace.
Also among those who have filed for appointees to defend their seats are Republican Rep. Clay Higgins of Lafayette and Republican Rep. Steve Scalise of Jefferson. Scalise and Higgins are attending the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which wraps up on Thursday.
“Protecting our coastal communities, maritime industry and domestic energy production has long been a priority for my office,” Higgins said in a statement.
Higgins will face off against Democrats Priscilla Gonzalez and Sadie Summerlin, and Republican “Zan” John.
Challenging Scalise are Republican Randy Arrington, a former political science professor who said Wednesday that Marxist communists are trying to destroy the country, and Mel Manuel, executive director of the Louisiana Abortion Fund and a former public school teacher.
House Speaker Mike Johnson and Rep. Julia Letlow did not qualify on Wednesday; Letlow is expected to qualify on Thursday.
The Supreme Court and the Civil Service Commission
The leading candidate for the Baton Rouge-based Supreme Court seat, which was redrawn this year into a majority-black district, is John Michael Gidley, a Democrat and chief judge of the 1st Circuit Court of Appeals, who has served on the court for more than 26 years. Gidley, who served as a state representative in the 1990s, qualified on Wednesday.
“The judiciary must be impartial,” Gudry said, describing the Supreme Court’s work as “serious” and one that literally deals with matters of “life and death.”
Fellow Democrat Marcus Hunter, who will serve as a judge on the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals starting in 2021, also signed the petition. Hunter served as a state representative for seven years and was elected to the 4th Judicial District Court in 2018. He said he “has the level of experience necessary for this position.”
Leslie Richard Chambers, a top adviser to former Gov. John Bel Edwards and Baton Rouge Mayor and President Sharon Weston Bloom, is also vying for a state Supreme Court justice seat.
In the Public Utilities Commission District 2 race, former state senator and attorney from Metairie Julie Quinn Somerville announced her candidacy Wednesday, vowing to maintain low electric rates if elected.
“I’m a Republican and a fiscal conservative, but I’ve been able to serve as a bridge between the two parties in every seat I’ve served,” she said.
Quinn will be the third conservative voice on the five-person committee.
No one else registered for Wednesday’s PSC election, but Republican Sen. Jean-Paul Cousin of Lafayette and former Republican state Rep. Scott McKnight of Baton Rouge both said they would register.
Former state Rep. Barry Ivey, who had been considering running, announced Wednesday that he was dropping out of the race and would instead support McKnight.
Former state Sen. Ted James and current Mayor Sharon Weston Broome also announced their candidacy for Baton Rouge’s mayoral election in Parish Court on Wednesday.
