The race for the open 5th District Congressional seat will be decided Saturday with state lawmaker Lance Harris up against retiring Congressman Ralph Abraham’s former Chief of Staff Luke Letlow. ULM Political Science Professor Joshua Stockley said of the two Republicans Letlow has to be the favorite given his substantial 600,000 dollar fundraising lead.
“That is allowing him (Letlow) to blanket the district with advertising, and that is why if you are traveling through the 5th District right now you will see his signs all over the place,” said Stockley.
Harris has raised half a million dollars to Letlow’s 1.1 million.
But Stockley cautioned against counting Harris out. He says this race is likely to come down to geography with Harris being from Alexandria and Letlow hailing from Ouachita Parish.
“So which of the two candidates can motivate their voters to show up in what is probably going to be a low-interest run-off election?” said Stockey.
Letlow secured 33 percent of the vote in the first round while Harris grabbed 16.6 percent, just nudging past Democrat Sandra Christophe’s 16.4 percent to make the runoff.
Democratic candidates won about a third of the vote in the primary, but Stockley says many of those registered Democratic voters will not cast a ballot in this election.
“Neither of these individuals have given Democrats any reason whatsoever to support them. It is going to be difficult for Democrats to show up and vote,” said Stockley.
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