The race for the District 5 U.S. House seat that Letlow gave up to run for U.S. Senate is getting crowded. Blake Miguez dropped out of the senate race to seek the District 5 House seat. State Senators Stewart Cathey of Monroe and Rick Edmonds of Baton Rouge, state Representative Dixon Wallace McMakin of Baton Rouge, and Board of Regents Chair Misti Cordell of Monroe all confirmed their commitment to run. With qualifying just over a week away, USA Today Network’s Greg Hilburn called it a wild race.
“I didn’t think it could get wilder. We last did a segment, maybe last week or the week before, but everything’s up in the air, musical chairs,” Hilburn said.
The fact that Miguez does not live in District 5 isn’t keeping him from seeking office to represent it and he says his focus is delivering wins for all of District 5. Hilburn says, it’s legal and it’s been done before, but he says Miguez’s opponents aren’t holding back.
“Stuart Cathy called him ‘a clown,’ referencing former Congressman Garret Graves’ quote about clowns entering the race, and he said he must have been talking about Senator Miguez,” Hilburn said.
Qualifying for the May 16th primary begins next week, February 11th through 13th. Hilburn says that leaves almost no time for campaigning or campaign fundraising.
“Dixon (McMakin) told me yesterday he’s at $350,000. Blake (Miguez) has upwards above $2 million. Now $2 million of that is his own money that he’s loaned his campaign. You know, it’s hard to tell who will be able to finance these campaigns,” Hilburn noted.