It looks like, to no one’s surprise, that he’s going to position himself as the conservative candidate in the race.

Here’s his press release that we got late last night:

State Senator Neil Riser (R-Columbia) will run for State Treasurer this fall. The seat was recently vacated by Sen. John N. Kennedy, who won Louisiana’s U.S. Senate election in December 2016. The special election for State Treasurer will be held on October 14, 2017.

“Today, I announce that I will be running for State Treasurer,” Senator Riser said. “Louisiana wants a watchdog as Treasurer and that’s exactly what I’ll be.”

“Over the years, Treasurer (now U.S. Senator) John Kennedy made the office of Treasurer more important than ever by bringing attention to key fiscal issues affecting taxpayers on a daily basis and exposing the wasteful spending of our state government. As Treasurer, I will continue that tradition,” Riser said.

Riser went on to criticize the state’s budget growth.

“Don’t tell me they’re spending money efficiently throughout a $28 billion dollar budget. That’s a load of bull, and we all know it. We must restore accountability and fiscal responsibility to our state’s finances,” he said.

“I have consistently fought to eliminate wasteful spending and reduce the tax burden on families and businesses across our state,” Riser said. “I have seen firsthand the out of control government waste and have done all I can to influence and change the way we do business. It’s quite obvious that the way our state does business is out of date and must be changed if we ever expect to truly put our state back on a solid financial footing.”

Neil Riser has served in the Louisiana State Senate for 10 years. Known for his staunch conservative voting record, Riser has fought against tax increases and wasteful spending. Senator Riser is the only candidate who has served on the State Bond Commission, which the new Treasurer will chair.

He is best known as the author of Louisiana’s Second Amendment, a constitutional amendment passed by the state’s voters in 2012 giving Louisiana citizens the strongest gun rights in America. Neil Riser is steadfastly pro-gun and anti-tax, and has been called the most conservative member of the state legislature.

Neil has been honored by the NRA, the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, the Louisiana Family Forum and many other conservative and good government organizations. He is a strong defender of the United States Constitution.

Hartwell Neil Riser, Jr. is 54 years old. He was born in 1962 in Columbia, Louisiana to Hartwell Riser, Sr. (1934–1985), and the former Lillian Gore, now Mrs. Lillian R. Gentry of Monroe, wife of Herschel Gentry, Jr.

Neil began logging at age 14 and worked in the timber industry until age 22, taking breaks to attend school. He graduated from Caldwell High School in 1980.

Neil earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management in 1984 from Northeast Louisiana University (now the University of Louisiana at Monroe).

He is president and owner of Riser Funeral Home. The Riser family has operated the business since 1934.

For 23 years, he has been a board member of Caldwell Bank and Trust. He is a past president of Pelican State Life Insurance Company.

Riser will conduct an announcement tour across Louisiana during the spring. More information can be found about the Neil Riser campaign at www.neilriser.com or on Facebook at www.facebook.com/NeilRiserLA

So now we have three major Republican candidates in the race so far with Angela Davis expected to enter the race as well.

All four Republicans are looking to establish their conservative bona fides. Riser is going to try to appeal to what’s left of the Tea Party base in Louisiana. John Schroder is going to run a populist campaign in the mold of John Kennedy. Meanwhile. Angela Davis and Julie Stokes are going to fight it out for the courthouse crowd’s backing.

The winner of this intra-Republican contest will likely take on the Democrat that emerges to run in the runoff.