General

Louisiana Congressional Race Rundown: Democrat Swing District Faces SCOTUS Review, Speaker District Safe

By Andy Hogue

November 06, 2024

The number of precincts reporting in Louisiana’s congressional races is now well-above 90% and most are safe to call. However, one race has yet to be called by some outlets at the time of writing (including the Associated Press), the constitutionality of the map is currently under review by the Supreme Court, and a projected Democratic victory could flip the south-central Louisiana district. We’ll start with it:

LA-6 — Cleo Fields (D), 50.8%, 150,311 The only non-incumbent in last night’s Louisiana congressional races, Fields, is hovering just over 50.8% — well over the nearest challenger. Republican Elbert Guillory is at 37.7%, but within striking distance of forcing a runoff as remaining ballot boxes are counted and votes canvassed. A victory by Fields would flip the district blue. Combined, the other Democrats had around 11%, but this was enough to sour a more jubilant election night party for Fields. His anticipated-but-cautious victory comes after the Legislature passed a court-ordered congressional map this year that included a second black-majority district. The U.S. Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will hear oral arguments on the constitutionality of the newly drawn district — how this may affect the election result at this time is unclear.

And now the clearer victories:

LA-1 — Steve Scalise (R), 66.8%, 238,803 Incumbent Scalise easily bested top rival Mel Manuel, a Democrat, who garnered 24% of the vote — others coming in under 10%. This will be Scalise’s eighth consecutive term on Capitol Hill, where he was recently a contender for House Speaker, later throwing his support behind Mike Johnson partially due to health reasons.

LA-2 — Troy Carter (D), 60.3%, 183,897 Incumbent Carter breathed easy Tuesday night with three main rivals gathering between 10% and 14% each. He retains the heavily Democratic district the he won in 2022 with 77% against a single Republican candidate for a full term (after winning a special election to fill a vacancy).

LA-3 — Clay Higgins (R), 70.6%, 226,264 Incumbent Higgins, a House Freedom Caucus member and conservative firebrand, skated to victory over main rival Priscilla Gonzalez (D) with 18.7% and two other candidates from both parties.

LA-4 — Mike Johnson (R), 85.8%, 262,791 The U.S. House Speaker had not only the highest lead on election night but also no Democratic rival. Republican challenger Joshua Morrott garnered 14.2%. Center Square has the write-up here.

LA-5 — Julia Letlow (R), 62.9%, 200,990 Letlow, the incumbent, also had an easy walk, with Democratic rival Michael Vallien at 25.9% and Vinny Mendoza, a Republican, at 11.2%. Letlow continues to represent the district won by her husband, Rep.-elect Luke Letlow, who died in 2021, sparking a special election.