Louisiana voters pick congressman

BATON ROUGE — Republican Luke Letlow will head to Washington in January as Louisiana’s newest congressman after winning Saturday’s runoff for the U.S. House seat representing central and northeastern regions of the state.

Letlow will fill the seat being vacated by his boss, Republican Ralph Abraham, after three terms in office. Abraham’s chief of staff, Letlow defeated state Rep. Lance Harris in the runoff that settled one of the nation’s last outstanding House races of the 2020 election cycle.

Harris and Letlow both ran as conservatives, with few policy distinctions. Instead, they ran on experience, background and character in an attack-laden few weeks after they were the top two vote-getters in the November primary.

“I’m ready to get to work, and I am focused on bringing jobs, investment and opportunity to our district. Each and every person across our rural landscape, whether it’s Bastrop, Bunkie, Bogalusa or all the places in between, has my word that I will never stop fighting to move Louisiana’s 5th District forward,” Letlow, 40, said in a statement.

Letlow, from the small town of Start in Richland Parish, was always considered the front-runner. He launched his campaign with Abraham’s endorsement and more than doubled Harris’ campaign cash.

“We probably don’t disagree on a lot of issues in terms of how we would vote,” Letlow said of himself and Harris in the one TV debate held during the runoff. “But I’m a candidate that would get results.”