By: Greg LaRose | Louisiana Illuminator
Just a day after he joined the field, Blake Miguez received an endorsement from President Donald Trump in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District race.
The president announced his backing for Miguez on social media Wednesday evening. Calling the Republican state lawmaker from New Iberia a “MAGA warrior.”
Until this week, Miguez intended to run for the U.S. Senate seat GOP incumbent Bill Cassidy holds. He switched to the 5th District race two weeks after its current occupant, U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Baton Rouge, received Trump’s support to run for Senate against Cassidy.
The 5th District covers an area from Northeast Louisiana down to the western Florida Parishes, stretching south to take in a portion of Baton Rouge. Miguez doesn’t live in the district but can still run for the seat.
“Louisiana deserves true, America First representation in Washington to back the MAGA agenda,” Miguez said in an X post Thursday night. “President Trump is the greatest president in our nation’s history. I’m honored to have the endorsement and look forward to delivering for Louisiana’s 5th and our country.”
Qualifying for Louisiana’s congressional races takes place next week, and more Republican state lawmakers were expected to enter the 5th District field. State Sen. Rick Edmonds and Rep. Dixon McMakin of Baton Rouge recently announced their candidacies, and Sen. Stewart Cathey and Rep. Mike Echols from Monroe were pondering runs of their own.
Other announced GOP candidates are Board of Trustees chair Misti Cordell of Monroe, Livingston Parish minister Larry Davis III, substitute teacher Joshua Morott, lawyer former Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office employee Ray Smith, and LSU-Shreveport administrator Sammy Wyatt.
Democrats who have declared their plans for the 5th District seat are Baton Rouge farmer Jessee Fleenor and Larry Foy, a theologian and self-described social justice advocate from Winnsboro.
The closed party primaries for Louisiana’s seats in Congress take place May 16, with runoffs set for June 27 if needed. The winners advance to the Nov. 3 general election.