BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — A Republican has jumped in the race for the 6th Congressional District seat after Garret Graves, who represents Louisiana District 6, recently said he would not run for reelection.

Elbert Guillory is a familiar face to Louisiana politics and hopes to keep the seat red, despite its new boundaries.

Guillory served in the Louisiana Legislature from 2007 to 2016 in both the House and Senate representing the Opelousas area. He switched parties in 2013 from Democrat to Republican, which gained national attention.

In 2016, he ran for Congress in the 4th Congressional District and only gained 7% of the vote. He also ran for lieutenant governor in 2015 and 2023, with getting only less than 8% of the vote.

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Now, despite saying the newly drawn congressional district is an illegal gerrymander and will be thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court, he wants to help Republicans keep hold of the House.

“There’s a razor thin margin in Washington, D.C. If we lose this seat, we could lose the speakership and we’ll be out again spending and dealing with things, like abortion,” Guillory said.

He stated he is running against ‘woke’ criminal justice reforms and is focused on securing the southern border.

“What’s happening at the southern border could not be under any circumstances considered protecting our people,” Guillory said.

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He will go up against State Sen. Cleo Fields and Quinton Anthony Anderson, who have been campaigning for the seat for months.

Qualifying for this election is next week and anyone can still get in the race. Election day is set for Nov. 5.

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