2 Democrats, Republican join race for Louisiana’s new majority-Black congressional district • Louisiana Illuminator

Former Congressman Cleo Fields, former state Sen. Elbert Guillory and upstart candidate Quentin Anthony Anderson signed up Wednesday to run in the election for Louisiana’s newly drawn, majority-Black 6th Congressional District seat.

Fields, 61, a Baton Rouge state senator, has the longest political history among the candidates and is the heavy favorite to win the race. The Black Democrat helped draw the lines of the seat as a member of the Louisiana Legislature and represented a district in Congress with similar boundaries from 1993 until 1997. 

Guillory, 80, a Black Republican lawyer from Opelousas, received the endorsement  last week of the state GOP,though the district where he is running leans heavily Democratic. He ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor in 2015 and 2023 and for Congress in 2016 after serving as a state representative from 2007 to 2009 and state senator from 2009 to 2016.

Anderson, a 35 year-old Democrat who lives in Baton Rouge, owns a small marketing firm and helps run the Justice Alliance, a left-leaning advocacy organization. He ran unsuccessfully for the East Baton Rouge Metro Council in 2020. 

If elected, Fields said he would make lowering the prices of prescription drugs and expanding broadband internet access his priorities. He also wants to help smaller cities and towns in the 6th district access more federal infrastructure funding. Many of those communities don’t have enough of their own money to put up to draw down federal dollars right now, he said.

Guillory, as a congressman, would focus on crime and what he called an “invasion” of immigrants. He also wants to curb federal spending. He is upset the U.S. spends “billions and billions” of dollars in places such as Ukraine while American roads and bridges are crumbling.

Crime and infrastructure would also be priorities for Anderson if he was elected, though the Democrat has a more rehabilitative, less punitive approach to criminal justice concerns than Guillory. Anderson also said he would advocate for a higher minimum wage.

The younger Democrat hasn’t shied away from making Fields’ infamous run-in with federal authorities an issue in the campaign. At Wednesday’s press conference, he alluded to the FBI surveillance tape unveiled in 1997 that showed Fields, while out of elected office, accepting $25,000 in cash from former Gov. Edwin Edwards. Fields was never charged with a crime, but the video has hung over his public persona for decades and is often fodder for his political opponents.

“Are you suggesting that Cleo Fields is a crook?” WVLA-TV reporter Shannon Heckt asked Anderson.

“Yes. Oh yeah. Yes. For sure,” Anderson replied. 

“Most of us confronted with $25,000 from a politician under federal surveillance, our first thought would probably be to walk away from that situation — not to ask for a rubber band,” Anderson said. 

Over the years, Fields has declined to talk about the specifics of the incident.

Fields, who entered elected politics in 1987 at 24 years old as the youngest state senator ever elected, is confident he will win this race. He said he’s hoping to avoid a runoff election in December by winning the primary election on Nov. 5 outright with more than 50% of the vote.

Both Anderson and Fields said they would continue to support President Joe Biden as long as he is the Democratic nominee for another term in the White House. 

Biden’s poor performance in recent television appearances, particularly a debate with former President Donald Trump earlier this month, has raised questions about whether the 81-year-old is mentally equipped for his job. 

“In a real sense, the Democratic Party has made its decision [to keep Biden in the race],” Fields said. “Now that could change, but the person who drives that decision is the president, and I’m going to support the president as long as he is seeking the nomination.”

Anderson said he would vote for Biden if he is the nominee, but added it is also necessary to have a conversation about the president’s fitness for office.

“I think what voters saw during the debate was concerning, and voters have a right to express that concern,” he said. “The presidency is too important to ask voters to lower their expectations.” 

The new version of the 6th Congressional District was created after a federal court ruling forced Louisiana to add another majority-Black slot among its six U.S. House seats. It spans from Baton Rouge to Shreveport, picking up portions of Lafayette and Alexandria along the way.

Black voters make up 33% of Louisiana’s population but only controlled one of the six congressional districts until this upcoming election. Now, two of the six seats have a majority-Black population.

U.S. Rep. Garret Graves, R-Baton Rouge, the current 6th District incumbent, was elected with a different iteration of the seat that was heavily Republican and majority white. He chose not to run for reelection when the district was redrawn to include more Black voters.

There is a chance a lawsuit could derail the new majority-Black seat, however. A group of white voters alleged the district is illegal because its boundaries were drawn based on the race of its voters. 

Fields represented the 4th Congressional District during his first stint in Congress. The boundaries of that district were ultimately thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court, which ruled its lines were racially gerrymandered.

1st Congressional District

U.S. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson, signed up by proxy to run for reelection Wednesday. Republican political consultant Jason Hebert turned in Scalise’s election paperwork to the Louisiana Secretary of State on behalf of the congressman.

Scalise will face at least two opponents in Louisiana’s 1st Congressional District, which includes portions of Jefferson Parish and the Northshore.

Randall Arrington, a Republican who described former Democratic President Barack Obama as a Marxist in remarks to reporters, said he felt Scalise was too nice to be a member of Congress. Mel Manuel, a Democrat who is transgender, hopes to bring awareness to LGBTQ issues. 

2nd Congressional District

Incumbent Congressmen Troy Carter, a Democrat from Algiers, signed up to run for reelection in the 2nd Congressional District using a proxy Wednesday. The U.S. House seat is centered around New Orleans. 

State Rep. Delisha Boyd, D-Algiers, turned in the election paperwork on behalf of Carter, calling him a mentor.

“Together, we will build on our achievements and strive for even greater progress,” Carter said in a written statement. 

Carter will face two Republican opponents in Louisiana’s 2nd District: Devin Lance Graham of Gonzales and Shondrell Perrilloux of St. Rose.

Perrilloux told reporters she was running to help children.

3rd Congressional District

Incumbent Republican Congressman Clay Higgins signed up to run for reelection Wednesday by proxy, with state Sen. Blake Miguez, R-New Iberia, and state Rep. Beryl Amedee, R-Houma, as his stand-ins. 

Two Democrats, Priscilla Gonzalez of Lafayette and Sadi Summerlin from Westlake, also qualified to run against Higgins. “Xan” John of Lafayette has also gotten into the race as a Republican, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State website.

Gonzalez told reporters Wednesday she was running against Higgins because she is upset with his anti-abortion and anti-immigrant views. 

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Bossier City, plans to have one of his daughters submit his qualifying documents to run in the 4th District. Joshua Morott, a Republican who listed his address as being in Arkansas, signed up to run against the incumbent Wednesday. 

There were no qualifiers Wednesday for the 5th Congressional district, but the period to sign up doesn’t end until Friday.

Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Start, is expected to show up in person to qualify in the 5th District, which now includes parts of Baton Rouge after it was adjusted to account for the new 6th District boundaries.