Democratic Rep. Cleo Fields will not seek reelection to Louisiana's redrawn 6th Congressional District, and the scramble to replace him now includes ten candidates chasing a seat that state lawmakers reconfigured this year into solidly Republican territory. Fields represented the district, but the map beneath his feet changed after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling forced Louisiana Republican state legislators to redraw the 6th District boundaries in May 2026, eliminating the Black-majority district that had sent him to Congress.
The reshaping traces back to a decision the court handed down in April, when it ruled that the state's existing congressional map was invalid, according to NOLA.com. That decision, in the case known as *Louisiana v. Callais*, struck down the state's second majority-Black congressional district and, per the The Guardian, narrowed Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act by raising the legal bar for race-conscious districting, a shift that also rippled into redistricting fights in Alabama and Mississippi. Governor Jeff Landry and Louisiana legislators then redrew the congressional boundaries, and Landry canceled the six U.S. House elections that had been scheduled for May and June 2026, pushing the contest to an open primary set for November 3.
The new 6th District is anchored in Baton Rouge, with nearly 50% of its voters living in East Baton Rouge Parish, roughly 20% in Livingston Parish, and 15% in Ascension Parish, per the seed reporting. The district now favors Republicans, with 41% of voters registered Republican against 30% Democrat, and Donald Trump carried the district with 65% of the vote in 2024. Under the open primary system, the top two finishers regardless of party advance to a December runoff.
Fields Heads Back to State Politics
Fields is not seeking reelection to Congress, opting instead to return to the Louisiana State Senate seat he once held. As WWL-TV reported, Fields announced in July that he would run for the District 14 seat in a December 12 special election following the death of Sen. Larry Selders on July 7. Fields previously held that same state Senate seat until moving to Congress in 2025, and his history in Louisiana politics runs deep: he became the youngest state senator in Louisiana history when first elected in 1986, and in 1995 he became the first African American candidate since Reconstruction to reach a Louisiana gubernatorial runoff, according to Ballotpedia. Fields and fellow Rep. Troy Carter had led a summit at Dillard University opposing the map overhaul, as Hoodline reported in its Fourth of July map fight coverage.
A Crowded, Fractured Republican Field
With the seat open, ten candidates have filed to run, including Republicans, Democrats, and a Libertarian, per the seed reporting. State Sen. Blake Miguez of Erath has raised $6 million and added a $3 million personal loan to his campaign, giving him a financial edge, though he owns a house in Baton Rouge while living miles outside the district itself. State Sen. Rick Edmonds of Baton Rouge, serving his 11th year in the legislature and also a Christian minister, has raised $530,000, including a $155,000 personal loan, and had $320,000 on hand.
Edmonds has argued that whoever wins should know, serve, and live in the district, a pointed jab at Miguez's residency outside its boundaries. The tension has a presidential dimension too: Donald Trump had endorsed Miguez when he was running in the 5th Congressional District, but did not extend that endorsement when Miguez switched into the 6th District race in August, a gap Edmonds has highlighted, according to the Louisiana Radio Network. Edmonds sponsored the legislation creating LA GATOR, the program allowing parents to use taxpayer dollars for private school tuition. Other Republicans in the race include Larry Davis III, a 29-year-old member of the Livingston Parish Republican Parish Executive Committee who supports a complete ban on abortion and has raised $21,000 with $1,000 on hand; Michael Mebruer of St. Francisville; Monique Appeaning of St. George; and Stephen Wagley of Baton Rouge.
Democrats Bet on Experience and Grassroots Ties
On the Democratic side, Pat Forbes, 65, held high-level state government positions under three governors over 20 years, including as director of the Office of Community Development under former Gov. John Bel Edwards, who officially endorsed Forbes in August. Forbes has raised no campaign money so far but has said the 6th District and Louisiana need representation independent of the president and party, and believes he can win because of his experience working with both Republicans and Democrats in state government.
Chauna Banks, 64, served twelve years on the East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Council and has also raised no campaign money, but she says her district contacts give her a path to victory. Banks says she prioritizes affordable housing and health care. Lindsay Garcia, 40, spent ten years as a social studies teacher in New Orleans before earning a law degree from Southern University in 2025; she has collected $65,000 and had $36,000 on hand. Garcia has said checks and balances and the rule of law should be reaffirmed, and that Congress should rein in Trump on Iran. Rufus Craig, a Libertarian from Baton Rouge, rounds out the field.
An Unsettled Electorate, Per Early Polling
A survey of 500 registered voters conducted August 12-13 by pollster Greg Rigamer, and paid for by Alton Ashy, found Banks leading with 18.8%, followed by Edmonds at 15.6%, Miguez at 8.6%, Forbes at 8.4%, and Davis at 6%. The survey did not include Garcia and carried a 4.4% margin of error. Most strikingly, 40.4% of voters surveyed remained undecided, and Rigamer summed up the state of the race bluntly: “the race is open.”
Miguez did not return phone calls seeking comment, according to the seed reporting. The wide-open contest, and the deep uncertainty reflected in early polling, underscore just how much the 6th District's political identity is still being written months after the redistricting fight that forced Fields out of the race altogether.
