As we move closer to voting in our state elections in Louisiana, it’s time to take a more thorough look at some of the races that are must-win as we seek to move the state legislature toward true representation of Louisiana voters. There are too many Republicans in Name Only (RINOs) in our legislature who convince voters they are conservatives, yet their voting records and definitive actions do not reflect what their campaign literature states. We will be taking a look at some of the most important races to flesh out these significant facts.

Case in point, the 1st District House race between incumbent Rep. Danny McCormick and his second-time challenger, Randall Liles.

Danny McCormick is a known quantity. His voting record and the bills he has carried represent a passion for protecting life and your constitutional right as a law-abiding citizen to carry a gun without license or background check. McCormick has voted to safeguard your right as a parent to raise your child according to your own beliefs and to prevent boys competing in girls’ sports. Not only that, he has voted against puberty blockers and sex change surgeries for minor children. There is no question where Rep. McCormick stands as he has proven it with his voting record time and time and time again.

There is zero mystery about Danny McCormick. He’s one of the most rock-ribbed, principled legislators Louisiana has ever seen.

Liles, on the other hand, is all over the map. He says one thing in his campaign materials but shows a lack of understanding of the issues or outright attempts to deceive voters if you dig just below the surface. Since he has no voting record, we have to go by his actions and how they align with or contradict his words.

On one of the most important issues, gun rights, Liles says he is for Constitutional Carry. Yet, according to a survey he filled out for Vote Smart, his answers show, at best, that he doesn’t understand the issue. When asked if he supports background checks for sales between private citizens he answered, “YES.” When asked if a license should be required for gun ownership he answered, “YES.” This aligns perfectly with President Joe Biden’s current effort to side-step Congress and enact these very policies through regulation at the ATF.

When Liles first ran against Rep. McCormick in 2019, he received an “AQ” rating from the NRA which is a non-officeholder rating based upon the way he answered their survey. Liles reposted for the 2023 race on Facebook the exact same picture and wording indicating he has received this rating in 2023. In truth, the NRA ratings and endorsements have not yet been issued this election season.

But this isn’t the only place Liles aligns with radical leftist Democrats on issues of the utmost importance to our state and to our freedoms.

On the same Vote Smart survey referenced above, Liles said he supports inclusion of “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” in Louisiana’s anti-discrimination laws which is the gateway to lawsuits and boys in girls bathrooms and locker rooms in schools and in the public.

In Liles first unsuccessful run against McCormick in 2019, the Louisiana Federation of Teachers (LFT) endorsed Liles. LFT is a union at the forefront of pushing leftist social issues including Black Lives Matter, DEI, climate change and the notion of a separate set of rights based on what sex you might identify as being at any given moment. Any conservative running for office would no more want the LFT endorsement than the Satanic Temple’s.

Liles received in 2019 endorsements from the radical pro-Biden Central Trades and Labor Union of Shreveport and Vicinity (CTLC), an AFL-CIO entity that enthusiastically touted the endorsement of Biden’s re-election in 2024. CTLC has long been a supporter of soon-to-be former Governor John Bel Edwards, and has invited Democrat gubernatorial candidate Shawn “Pothole” Wilson to speak at their labor event in June of this year.

In 2019 Liles also received $2,000 from DRIVE PAC of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters that describes itself as “fighting back against big business.” The Teamsters also endorsed Joe Biden.

Liles also took money in 2019 from the Progressive Strategy Group, a major contributor to John Bel Edwards and who controls the leftist Pelican PAC that is chaired by Edwards appointee Greg Morrison.

Liles also contributed $1,000 of his own money to Democrat Senator Gregory Tarver who voted against the override of Edwards’ veto of the bill that would ban transsexuals from competing against Louisiana’s daughters in sports in 2021. Tarver also voted against the veto override of the Constitutional Carry bill in 2021.

Liles also contributed $2,000 his own money to RINO extraordinaire, Rep. Larry Bagley, a member of the Fraud Squad who voted with Democrats to elect a RINO Speaker of the House. In 2022, Bagley killed the ban on vaccine mandates in the Health and Welfare Committee where he was the chairman. There are plenty of horrendous votes by Bagley we could cite here but for sake of brevity we will add only the 2017 vote in favor of SB 139 for early release of 1,900 violent criminals from prison.

These are the people Liles helps fund and who help to fund and endorse him.

But if you’re a neighbor of Randall Liles and you know these things and chose to support McCormick instead, this is the treatment you can expect to receive when he pulls up onto your property to comment about your McCormick yard sign…

There isn’t a whole lot of mystery here. Four years ago the voters of House District 1 chose their representative well. Next month they’ll have the same opportunity, and it’s an even easier vote this time.