WASHINGTON — The widow of a Louisiana Congressman-elect who died from COVID-19 complications before he could take office won a special election Saturday to replace him in Congress, hours after getting an endorsement from former President Donald Trump.
A second special election in Louisiana, to fill the seat vacated by White House adviser Cedric Richmond, will go to a run-off in April.
Republican Julia Letlow, who received Trump’s backing on Saturday, won a crowded race to represent the state’s 5th Congressional District.
Letlow, 40, is a university administrator who lives northern Louisiana with her two young children. She’ll be Louisiana’s first Republican woman in the U.S. House.
She’s the widow of Luke Letlow, a former congressional aide who died in late December at age 41, days before he could take office.
“Julia has overcome tremendous adversity and is an inspiration to all of us,” National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Emmer said in a statement.
Letlow had about 63% of the vote in Saturday’s 12-candidate field when the race was called by the Associated Press, more than enough to clear the 50% threshold needed for the win. Democrat Sandra “Candy” Christophe was running second with about 28.6% support.
The Fifth District represents population hubs in the cities of Monroe and Alexandria. It previously was represented by Republican Ralph Abraham, who left Congress at the close of the last session after three terms. Luke Letlow was Abraham’s chief of staff.
In Louisiana’s 2nd Congressional district, which stretches from New Orleans to Baton Rouge, 15 candidates vied for the seat vacated by Richmond, who joined President Joe Biden’s administration in January as a senior political adviser after cruising to re-election in November.
Democratic state Sen. Troy Carter was declared with winner, but his 36% support will put him into the April 24 run-off. Karen Carter Peterson, also a state senator, was in second place at 23% support, with 98% of precincts reporting.
Richmond endorsed Carter, but Peterson had the backing of other influential Democrats and progressives in her bid to become the first Black woman to represent the Deep South state in Congress.
The Second District seat will remain empty until results of the run-off results are known. Democrats hold a slim majority in the House.
