Republican Julia Letlow, widow of Luke Letlow, who died in December of Covid-19, will occupy her seat in the United States House of Representatives: she won the special elections that took place on Saturday in District 5 of Louisiana.
Luke Letlow, who was just 41, had not yet taken the oath when he died a few weeks after the election; backed by the party, his wife had received a stark endorsement from former President Donald Trump, who called her “exceptional.” Special elections were also held Saturday in District 2 of the state, which includes New Orleans and Baton Rouge, where the House seat was vacant as Democrat Cedric Richmond joined the cabinet of President Joe Biden.
In this case, since no one got more than 50% of the votes, a second round will have to be held in April between the two most voted, Democrats Troy Carter, minority leader in the Louisiana Upper House, and Karen Carter Peterson, from leftmost wing of the party. Carter, who is backed by Richmond, got 36.4% of the vote while Carter Peterson, 22.9%. That way, because Democrats have a slim majority in the House of Representatives (with 219 deputies versus 211 Republicans), this margin will be temporarily narrower until the run-off for Louisiana’s second district is held.
The electoral round did not, however, put the balance in the House at stake, because both districts are strongly characterized politically: district 2 has a democratic majority and 5 is republican.