This just in: Elbert Guillory is running for Congress, in the LA-04 House seat that Fleming is vacating to run for the U.S. Senate. Powerful candidacy announcement for Guillory:
http://www.elbertguillory.com/congress/
The LA-04 is based out of Shreveport, but includes much of Guillory’s home parish of St. Landry (but not his hometown of Opelousas, which is just outside the CD’s borders). Apart from the black-majority (and overwhelmingly RAT) LA-02, the LA-04 is the least Republican—and least white—CD in Louisiana, but it’s still like 2/3 white and held Obama just under 40% in both 2008 and 2012.
Louisiana has that terrible (and, IMHO, unconstitutional) jungle primary system in which all candidates regardless of party run on the same ballot and, if no one gets 50%+1, the top two go on to a run-off; unless enough prominent Republicans run and split the vote and exactly two Democrats run and each gather 18%-20%, a Republican will win the election. Guillory is a conservative hero (he switched to the GOP a couple of years ago to become the first black Republican in the LA Senate since Reconstruction—and representing a black-majority district to boot) with a solid voting legislative record, and his ability to win votes from white conservatives and open-minded blacks should propel him to a top-two finish in the jungle primary and a victory in the general. But, of course, I thought that Guillory would do well in the Lt. Gov. jungle primary, and he got slaughtered, so we’ll have to wait and see whether he’s just tilting at windmills here.
For the record, I am endorsing Elbert Guillory for the U.S. House of Representatives. We need more people like him in public service, and particularly in Congress. Sure, he’s 71 years old, so he may not serve in Congress for very long, but a black conservative that can explain eloquently why blacks should be Republicans is a necessary—albeit not sufficient—requirement for obtaining 25% of the black vote and putting the Democrats out of business once and for all.
I caught that when I did my daily check of Politics1. Unfortunately for Sen. Guillory, the biggest factor working against him isn’t the issue of race, but one of age. If he ends up running against a younger, White Conservative in his 40s or 50s, that’s going to be tough. It’s sad he ended up as a desultory afterthought in the Lt Gov’s race.
I wish Elbert Guillory, he’s my first choice right now. I’m looking to overlook his age.