Louisiana GOP makes controversial endorsements for Congress. More could follow.

The Republican Party of Louisiana’s leadership faced backlash this week after endorsing candidates in Louisiana’s two competitive congressional races using an opaque, private process. 

The Louisiana GOP’s eight-member executive committee initially voted Sunday to back New Iberia state Sen. Blake Miguez over the five other Republicans in the 6th Congressional District election. It followed with a second endorsement Thursday for the other major GOP candidate in the race, state Sen. Rick Edmonds of Baton Rouge.

At the same Thursday meeting, the party’s executive committee endorsed Monroe’s Misti Cordell in the 5th Congressional District race. Brent Littlefield, with Cordell’s campaign, said she had been working on securing the state party’s backing for months. 

“This endorsement means so much to me because it came from the grassroots — the men and women who have spent years doing the hard work of building our Republican Party in communities across Louisiana,” Cordell said in a news release Friday morning. 

A state party endorsement can come with huge financial advantages for the chosen candidate. Groups such as the Republican National Committee will assist a candidate’s campaign only after they receive the state party’s approval. The state party can also help their endorsed candidates with access to discounted rates for direct mail advertising and supplying crucial voter profile information. 

Cordell is a healthcare business owner who has never served in elected office. She’s the chair of the Louisiana Board of Regents, the state’s higher education oversight body. 

Cordell is running against three other Republicans with more political experience: state Sen. Stewart Cathey of Monroe, state House GOP Caucus Chairman Mike Echols of Monroe and state Rep. Gabe Firment of Pollock..

Echols and Firment said Friday they had been told the GOP was going to withhold its endorsement until after the Nov. 3 primary because of the large number of qualified Republicans running.

“I don’t know that it makes a huge amount of difference to the average voter or citizens. I’m not terribly upset about it,” Firment said in an interview about the Louisiana GOP’s nod to Cordell. 

Echols expressed more frustration. He said the Republican Executive Committee’ endorsement process “smells to high heaven” and likened it to a smoke-filled, secretive deal put together by the former Democratic Gov. Huey Long. 

“I’m running to win votes, not win a backroom popularity contest of 8 in a secret emergency meeting,” Echols wrote in a text message. 

It’s possible Cordell won’t be the only candidate in the 5th District race to receive the party’s endorsement.

Louisiana GOP Chairman Derek Babcock said Cordell was endorsed because she’s so far the only candidate in the 5th District field to submit signatures from Republican State Central Committee members required for endorsement consideration. The executive committee may take up additional endorsement requests if other candidates turned in signatures. 

“I’m not going to say that we’re finished” with endorsements, Babcock said Friday. 

Babcock, who is on the Republican Executive Committee, said he did not personally vote to endorse Cordell because there are too many strong GOP candidates in the 5th District to choose one. 

“My opinion and my vote was that we stay out of that race,” he said. 

Landry has not endorsed candidates in the 5th or 6th Districts races, but the state party preferences for Edmonds and Cordell likely pleased him.

Landry and Miguez had a falling out two years ago when Miguez publicly criticized the governor’s plan for overhauling Louisiana’s tax and budget system. Last year, the governor took some not-so-subtle shots at Miguez when he vetoed a nutrition bill the senator had authored. Landry’s rejection came less than two weeks after Miguez had announced he was running for U.S. Senate, though he eventually qualified for the 5th District contest.   

The governor and first lady Sharon Landry are personal friends with Cordell, who he appointed to the Board of Regents. Some longtime Landry’s campaign staffers are now working on Cordell’s election effort.

In an interview Friday, Babcock said he wants to see the party endorsement process overhauled after this election cycle. The rules for how to seek the party’s endorsement should be displayed clearly on the party’s website in the future, and there need to be firm deadlines for candidates to submit signatures for endorsement consideration, he said.

Firment said he would like to see any future party endorsement process involve a more extensive vetting of candidates’ backgrounds and interviews. Candidates should have to articulate a “vision” for their time in office, he said. 

Babcock said some of the confusion around party endorsements should be resolved by the new semi-closed party primary process that applies to elections for Louisiana Supreme Court, Public Service Commission, Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and U.S. House seats moving forward. For these races, voters will pick which Republican candidate they want to receive the party’s backing, not the executive committee, Babcock said.