The first day of brought few surprises as congressional candidates or their stand-ins flocked to Baton Rouge to add their names to the ballot.
All six Louisiana seats in the U.S. House are up for grabs, as are one spot on the Louisiana Supreme Court and another on the state's Public Service Commission. There are also nine open seats across five state appellate courts, and a number of high-profile local races, such as East Baton Rouge mayor-president and Orleans Parish School Board.
The signup period began Wednesday at 8 a.m. and will close Friday at 4:30 p.m. State candidates qualified at the Louisiana State Archives building in Baton Rouge, while local candidates traveled to their parish clerk of court offices.
Among Louisiana's most-watched races this year is the 6th Congressional District, which into a majority-Black district at , a Baton Rouge Republican. Graves will not seek reelection. State Sen. Cleo Fields, D-Baton Rouge, is favored to win and officially signed up for the race on Wednesday.
Should he make it to Washington, Fields said Wednesday that he'd fight for key committee assignments and to lower drug prices and expand broadband internet access. He said he'd offer "unfettered support" to President Joe Biden for as long as Biden continues to seek the Democratic nomination. Fields previously served two terms in Congress from 1993 to 1997.
Quentin Anthony Anderson, a Democrat from Baton Rouge signed up to challenge Fields Wednesday. Anderson dismissed Fields as a crook for pocketing $20,000 in 1997 from then-governor Edwin Edwards. Fields has never been charged with a crime.
Former state Sen. Elbert Guillory, a Republican attorney from Opelousas, also entered that race. Guillory, 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, diseases and crime to the country.
U.S. Rep. Troy Carter, D-New Orleans, signed up to defend his 2nd Congressional District seat through a proxy, state Rep. Delisha Boyd. Carter has been campaigning with President Joe Biden at the NAACP convention in Las Vegas, Boyd said.
Carter drew at least one challenger Wednesday: Shondrell Perrilloux, a Republican from LaPlace.
Also using stand-ins to defend their congressional seats were U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, and U.S. House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, R-Jefferson. Scalise and Higgins are at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, which ends Thursday.
"Protecting our coastal communities, the maritime industry, and domestic energy production have long been priorities of my office," said Higgins in a statement.
Higgins will face Democratic challengers Priscilla Gonzalez and Sadi Summerlin, and "Xan" John, a Republican.
Challenging Scalise, meanwhile, are Republican Randy Arrington, a retired political science professor who said Wednesday that Marxist communists are trying to destroy the country, and Democrat Mel Manuel, director of operations for the Louisiana Abortion Fund and a former public school teacher.
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson and U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow did not qualify Wednesday. Letlow is expected to qualify Thursday.
Supreme Court and Public Service Commission
The front-runner for the Baton Rouge-based Supreme Court seat, also redrawn this year as a majority-Black district, is John Michael Guidry, a Democrat and the chief judge of the First Circuit Court of Appeal, where he has served for over 26 years. Guidry, a state legislator in the '90s, qualified Wednesday.
“The judiciary has to be impartial,” said Guidry, who described the court's work as "serious" and dealing with literal "life and death" matters.
Marcus Hunter, another Democrat and a judge in the Second Circuit Court of Appeal since 2021, also signed up. Hunter was a state lawmaker for seven years and was elected to the Fourth Judicial District Court in 2018. He said he has "the requisite level of experience for the position."
Leslie Ricard Chambers, a top advisor to former Gov. John Bel Edwards and Baton Rouge Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome, is also in the running for the state Supreme Court seat.
In the Public Service Commission's District 2 race, Julie Quinn-Summerville, a former state senator and lawyer from Metairie, signed up Wednesday and vowed to maintain low electricity rates if elected.
"Although I am a Republican and fiscally conservative," she said, "in every seat I've ever held I've been able to bridge between the two parties."
Quinn would be the third conservative voice on the five-member commission.
No one else signed up for the PSC race Wednesday, though state Sen. Jean-Paul Coussan, R-Lafayette, former state Rep. Scott McKnight of Baton Rouge, a Republican, have both said they will.
Former state Rep. Barry Ivey, who had pondered a run, said on Wednesday that he decided against it and will instead support McKnight.
Former state Sen. Ted James and sitting mayor Sharon Weston-Broome also signed up for the Baton Rouge mayor-president's race Wednesday at the parish clerk of court.
