Louisiana voters cast their ballots Saturday for two vacant U.S. House seats in special elections that aren’t expected to shake up the parties’ balance of power but that could add a woman to the state’s all-male congressional delegation.
Women are among the top contenders in both competitions, including Julia Letlow, a Republican who is vying for the northeast Louisiana-based seat that her husband Luke Letlow won in December but couldn’t fill because of his death from COVID-19 complications.
Julia Letlow is among 12 candidates in the race for the 5th District seat. She’s running in the deep red district with the backing of Donald Trump, the endorsement of the state GOP and more money raised than all her competitors combined — raising speculation about whether she might be able to win outright Saturday without a runoff election.
Further south, the seat representing the New Orleans-based 2nd District is open because Democrat Cedric Richmond took a job as a special adviser to President Joe Biden Fifteen candidates are competing for the congressional position. The race is expected to head to an April 24 runoff between the top two vote-getters.
Polls close at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Only three women have ever been elected to Louisiana’s congressional delegation. The off-year elections for the 2nd District and 5th District seats could boost that number to four or five.
