Seems like we’ve been here before – qualifying for the ballot for the U.S. House of Representatives gets underway in Baton Rouge at eight this morning. Qualifying had previously taken place back in February, but the closed primary was cancelled after the Supreme Court ruled the state’s previous congressional map an unconstitutional racial gerrymander. ULM political science professor Pearson Cross says with districts five and six open, there are a few wild cards.
“One of the wild cards, of course, is Garret Graves and what he’s going to do. The other wild card, of course, is Blake Miguez and which district is he going to run in. Rick Edmonds was running in the fifth district, and now he’s switched over to the sixth,” Cross said.
Cross says the decision as to which district Blake Miguez will ultimately run in has been a closely guarded secret ever since the original House closed primaries were cancelled.
“He was running in the fifth district. He had an endorsement from Donald Trump. And then, of course, the whole election scheme went ‘kapoof.’ And now the question is, the fifth still where he wants to be or, with the sixth open, would that be a more congenial fit?” Cross asked.
Cross says as for the other four districts, there is no drama whatsoever.
“They’re very secure; Steve Scalise, Troy Carter, Clay Higgins and Mike Johnson, they’re not going anywhere,” Cross noted.
Due to the condensed calendar brought on by the previous primary’s cancellation, this year’s U.S. House primaries will be the open primaries as in past years, with the top two vote-getters advancing to a runoff, should no one get 50%+1 on November 3rd.