(The Center Square) – Louisiana voters will have plenty of choices for Congress this fall, but most of the action is concentrated in two races where there is no incumbent to beat.

Thirty-six candidates qualified for the state’s six U.S. House seats before the filing period closed Friday, with 19 of them running in the 5th and 6th congressional districts alone. Those are the only two districts without an incumbent seeking reelection.

The unusually crowded ballot comes after Louisiana’s congressional map was redrawn again this year. Democratic U.S. Rep. Cleo Fields abandoned a reelection campaign after his 6th District was substantially reshaped and is instead running for the state Senate. Republican U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow left the 5th District open when she entered the U.S. Senate race.

That has produced a 10-candidate scramble in the 6th District, the largest congressional field in the state. Republicans Monique Appeaning, Larry Davis III, Rick Edmonds, Michael Mebreur, Blake Miguez and Stephen Wagley qualified alongside Democrats Chauna Banks, Pat Forbes and Lindsay Garcia and Libertarian Rufus Craig.

Miguez, a state senator who had initially positioned himself for the 5th District before the map changed, marked his move by writing on his campaign social media account that he was “proud to announce my candidacy for Louisiana’s newly redistricted 6th Congressional District.”

Edmonds is pitching the race as a choice between established conservative records, telling voters on his campaign website: “Talk is cheap, we’re going to focus on results. Voters deserve nothing less.”

Forbes, a former executive director of the Louisiana Office of Community Development, is making a different argument. His campaign says the district needs someone willing to “fight for Louisiana, not the President, not billionaires, not special interests.”

The 5th District is nearly as crowded, with nine candidates seeking Letlow’s seat: Republicans Stewart Cathey Jr., Misti Cordell, Michael Echols, Gabe Firment and Austin Magee, along with Oscar “Omar” Dantzler, who also qualified as a Republican, and Democrats Dan McKay, Patricia “Pat” Moore and Antonio Wilson.

Louisiana’s four returning House members drew substantially smaller fields.

In the 1st District, Republican Steve Scalise faces fellow Republican Randall Arrington and Democrat Lauren Jewett. Democratic Rep. Troy Carter faces Democrat Renada Collins and Libertarian Lisa Ballay in the 2nd.

Republican Clay Higgins drew five opponents in the 3rd District: Republican Kate Cotten, Democrats John Day, Priscilla Gonzalez and Caleb “With a C” Walker, and unaffiliated candidate Tia LeBrun. In the 4th, Republican Mike Johnson faces Republicans Gordon Heslop and Mike Nichols and Democrats Conrad Cable and Matt Gromlich.

All congressional candidates will appear on the Nov. 3 open-primary ballot regardless of party. A candidate who receives a majority can win outright; otherwise, the top two finishers advance to the Dec. 12 general election.

Louisiana required congressional candidates to qualify again Aug. 5-7 following this year’s election changes.