Meet Charles Kincade, a criminal defense lawyer in Monroe and a 2012 delegate for Barack Obama at the Democrat National Convention.

The Ouachita Citizen said yesterday that Kincade has signaled an intention to run. State Rep. Marcus Hunter is already in the race on the Democrat side.

Kincade might be a stalking horse for the favorite in the race, Neil Riser. A white Democrat in the race kills any chance Hunter might have for an upset, as he’ll siphon off white Democrat voters in the district that Hunter would need if he were to beat Riser.

But interestingly enough, the Ouachita Citizen also had this tidbit:

Rep. Jay Morris said Friday he plans on qualifying for the for the 5th District congressional race.

“I will be making an announcement at the appropriate time,” said Morris, R-Monroe.

…

Morris, a successful attorney by trade, was first elected to the state House of Representatives in 2011. During his brief stint in the House, Morris has been odds from time to time with the Jindal administration as well as the legislative leadership. The rub stemmed from Morris’ association with a coalition of conservative House members who have advocated for reform measures on budget matters.

Morris would be the “fiscal hawk” Republican candidate in the race, meaning he’d be the anti-Jindal Republican candidate. Riser, whose campaign consultant is reportedly going to be Jindal’s guru Timmy Teepell, would obviously be the pro-Jindal Republican candidate.

Riser probably doesn’t want the election to be a referendum on Jindal, and it shouldn’t be. The governor’s popularity doesn’t have a whole lot to do with what’s going on in Congress; what the election should be a referendum on is how conservative the people of Northeast Louisiana want their congressman to be.

Apparently, Jeff Guerriero might also make the race. Guerriero ran unsuccessfully against state sen. Bob Kostelka two years ago for the latter’s seat. Kostelka is retiring in 2015 and the race for his state Senate seat will be a hotly contested one.

But with Riser getting endorsements from most of the state’s Congressional delegation already and with a sizable personal war chest to draw from in what will be a sprint of a special election (Election Day is Oct. 19), he still looks like the big favorite.

And Charles Kincade? Well, he’s going to find out that when people vote in the 5th Congressional District, he doesn’t win.