Monroe Mayor Qualifies In La.’s 5th District Race

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — The field of candidates has grown larger in the special election to fill the 5th District congressional seat representing northeast and central Louisiana, as qualifying entered its second day.

Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, a Democrat, filed his registration paperwork Tuesday for the Oct. 19 election.

He joined Republican state Sen. Neil Riser and Democratic state Reps. Marcus Hunter and Robert Johnson in the race. Also qualifying Tuesday was a Libertarian candidate, Henry Herford Jr. of Delhi.

The candidate registration period runs until Wednesday evening.

Congressman Rodney Alexander is resigning next month to become veterans secretary in Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration.

The 5th District covers all or part of 24 parishes across northeast Louisiana, through much of central Louisianaand including all the areas that run along the Mississippi state line.