LA 6th Congressional District Race: JBE's Endorsement and Edmonds vs. Miguez

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BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Former Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards has endorsed Democrat Pat Forbes in the race for Louisiana's 6th Congressional District.

In a statement released Thursday, Edwards endorsed Forbes and highlighted their long history of working together on disaster recovery.

"I've known Pat Forbes my entire life. We grew up together, and I spent eight years working with him as Louisiana recovered from historic storms," Edwards said. "Pat has spent his career partnering with Republicans and Democrats in some of the most challenging situations."

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Edwards believes that working together, regardless of party, is crucial for Washington. He encouraged voters to back Forbes in the upcoming election.

"Louisiana is best served when we put politics aside, and I know that's exactly what Pat will do in Congress," Edwards said. "I'm proud to endorse my friend for Congress in Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, and I hope the people of Louisiana will join me in supporting him."

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An engineer by training, Forbes worked for the administrations of former Govs. Kathleen Blanco, Bobby Jindal and John Bel Edwards, spending much of that time in charge of the Office of Community Development. His chief task at the agency was helping dispense more than $13 billion in federal block grant funds that followed hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005.

Forbes told reporters he didn’t plan to run for Congress until Republican lawmakers updated the U.S. House district lines in May, adding that he would not have entered the 6th District race if Fields was seeking re-election. The sitting congressman has said he intends to seek his former seat in the Louisiana Senate, which he’s held on two separate occasions dating back to 1988.

“It’s because of the redistricting and the gerrymandering that I’m in this race,” Forbes said. “It’s because politicians are trying to pick their voters instead of the other way around.”

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BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Not long after State Sen. Blake Miguez (R-New Iberia) qualified to run for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, another candidate released a statement targeting Miguez, saying “he doesn’t understand the issues” voters face.

Miguez, a Republican, had initially announced a campaign for U.S. Senate to challenge Sen. Bill Cassidy but then shifted gears early this year to instead run for the 5th Congressional District after Rep. Julia Letlow announced she would be running for the Senate. Now, he’s decided to run for the 6th Congressional District, qualifying on the last day of the qualifying period.

“Since I first moved to Baton Rouge in 1999, this district has been special to me,” Miguez wrote on Facebook Friday. “Through LSU, law school, and expanding my business into the district more than a decade ago, the 6th has given so much to me and I look forward to serving as our representative in Congress!”

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In February, President Donald Trump endorsed Miguez in the congressional race in a Truth Social post before the U.S. House races were delayed. He wrote, “Blake Miguez has my complete and total endorsement to be the next Representative from Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District — HE WILL NOT LET YOU DOWN!”

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Fellow legislator and Republican congressional candidate State Sen. Rick Edmonds (R-Baton Rouge) released the following statement after Miguez qualified for the 6th Congressional District on Friday.

“I’m glad Blake finally decided which district he’d run in. He and his out-of-state supporters have been panicked since losing President Trump’s endorsement.

“This race is going to be about who is the most equipped leader to fight for the needs of our district. Infrastructure. Flood mitigation. Public safety. Vital issues that deserve a leader willing to stand up for them. A problem solver, not another talking head. I look forward to spending the next several months contrasting my conservative record of delivering results against that of Blake Miguez. He’s not from here, he can’t vote here, and he doesn’t understand the issues facing our communities.”

On Wednesday, Edmonds said he “absolutely” is seeking Trump’s endorsement.

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