The candidates for Louisiana's six congressional districts are set after qualifying closed Friday afternoon.
All six districts have at least two contenders.
Metairie Republican Steve Scalise, the House Majority Leader, drew three challengers from his own party, plus one Democrat and one candidate with no party affiliation.
Ross Shales, a Republican from New Orleans, Marguerite Swanson, a Slidell Republican, and Republican Randall Arrington from Ponchatoula join Madisonville Democrat Mel Manuel, and J. Frankie Hyers from Jefferson Parish, running with no party affiliation, in an attempt to unseat the nine-term incumbent.
Three Republicans and one Democrat are running against incumbent Troy Carter, D-New Orleans. Devin Davis is the Democrat. Christy Lynch, Shondrell Perrilloux and Devin Lance Graham round out the ballot for the Republicans.
Democrats Priscilla Gonzalez and Sadi Summerlin signed up to run against Republican Congressman Clay Higgins in the Third District. Higgins also faces a challenge from "Xan" John, a fellow Republican.
House Speaker Mike Johnson is running against Republican Joshua Morott. Curiously, Morott listed an address in Benton, Arkansas on his qualification form.
In Louisiana's Fifth District, Republican Julia Letlow drew two challengers: Ponchatoula Republican Vinny Mendoza and Democrat Michael Vallien Jr.
In the newly-redrawn Sixth District, incumbent Republican Garrett Graves declined to run in a district that is now majority Black. State senator Cleo Fields, Quentin Anthony Anderson, Wilken Jones Jr., and Peter Williams are all running as Democrats, while former state senator Elbert Guillory is running as a Republican. All candidates in the Sixth District race are Black.
The Sixth District is currently the subject of a federal lawsuit that claims the district is unconstitutionally racially gerrymandered. Lawmakers approved boundaries that would create a majority Black district after a separate lawsuit alleged Louisiana's districts violated the Voting Rights Act by failing to include two majority-minority districts. Louisiana's population is almost one-third black per the 2020 Census.
