Gary 'Gravy' Chambers says he will challenge John Kennedy in U.S. Senate election campaign

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Gary Chambers Jr., a progressive activist from Baton Rouge who made a strong showing in a 2021 congressional campaign, plans to announce Tuesday that he will compete in the open primary this fall to defeat U.S. Sen. John Kennedy.

Chambers becomes the second Democrat seeking to derail the re-election bid of Kennedy, a Republican who has the endorsement of former President Donald Trump.

Chambers said he is a strong supporter of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better proposal stalled by opposition from a conservative Democratic senator – the measure would greatly expand the Child Tax Credit, provide free preschool, spend billions to combat climate change and raise corporate taxes – and he supports the giant infrastructure program that Congress just passed.

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Chambers, a 36-year-old consultant, believes he can surprise the skeptics this year by energizing enough voters to knock off the Republican incumbent, as Raphael Warnock did in Georgia two years ago.

The other Democrat in the race is Luke Mixon from Bunkie in central Louisiana. He comes from the John Bel Edwards wing of the Democratic Party as a graduate of the Naval Academy who served as a fighter plane pilot during wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

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