Among the Democrats are the State Sens. Troy Carter and Karen Carter Peterson, both of New Orleans; Gary Chambers Jr., a Baton Rouge Democrat, community activist, and local publisher who rose to prominence in protests against Alton Sterling’s death by local police in 2016; and Desiree Ontiveros, who owns a party decor company in New Orleans.
The Republican Party-backed candidate is Claston Bernard, a Jamaica-born decathlete who participated in the Olympics, runs a home inspection business and lives in the suburbs of Baton Rouge.
With Carter and Peterson at the top of the polls and the highest fundraiser, they largely fought each other ahead of Election Day. Carter has accused Peterson of drafting education laws for the benefit of her husband’s career, a claim the Peterson campaign labeled offensive and misleading. They exchanged criticism of missing votes in the legislature. Everyone has previously applied for the congress seat.
Both Carter and Peterson described similar priorities for the district, including recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and “environmental justice” for poor communities at higher health risks from pollution. Peterson noted that she would be the first black woman from Louisiana ever to be elected to Congress, and spoke of support from Medicare for All, a universal government health system.
Bernard highlighted his Christian faith and said the GOP should do more to reach out to black voters who are Christians. He criticized government programs for being unable to lift people out of poverty and spoke of calling for more after-school education initiatives.
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