Congressman CLEO FIELDS (photo courtesy of Cleo Fields)
We got word a few days ago about Cleo Fields’ political future. Friday morning, he made it official.
“When I run for office, I don’t run just to run; I run to win. I was in deep conversations with members of congress in Washington, and there was a lot of push. But at the end of the day, I didn’t see the winning path,” Fields noted.
Fields said the elimination of subsection two of the Voting Rights Act set in motion a series of events that culminated with the redrawing of his district in a way that would have made re-election impossible. In making his announcement in Baton Rouge, Fields said he will run to fill the remainder of the term of State Senator Larry Selders, who died unexpectedly earlier this month. With Selders’ family in attendance, Fields noted the irony of the occasion.
“I thought about running for one of the congressional seats, quite frankly. But the deeper I thought about it, the more I’ve decided not to,” Fields said.
Fields was elected to his third non-consecutive stint as the 14th district state senator in 2019 and re-elected four years later before stepping down following his election to Congress. If he wins the December 12th special election, he would have the distinction of being elected twice to the same seat in the same term. Fields says it would be bittersweet.
“Who wants to do it under these circumstances? But I feel, truly, that the best way I can honor my friend is by finishing what he started,” Fields said.
To summarize: Fields started in the State Senate, jumped to the U.S. House of Representatives for four years, then went back to the State Senate for a decade, was re-elected to the State Senate after an absence of a dozen years, resigned five years later after going back the U.S. House and is seeking to return to the State Senate once again after nixing a re-election bid. Did you get all that? There will be a quiz tomorrow morning.
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