Louisiana Republicans Abandoned Elbert Guillory - And Handed Cleo Fields a Free Win
As a conservative, I want to see Louisiana's Republicans act like winners, not bystanders. But in the race for Louisiana’s new 6th Congressional District, they handed a gift-wrapped victory to Democrat Cleo Fields by refusing to stand up for Republican Elbert Guillory — a candidate who could have possibly kept the seat red with just a little help.
The silence and inaction from Governor Jeff Landry, along with Senators John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy, and other top Louisiana Republicans, is nothing short of embarrassing.
Let’s get one thing straight: this district was tailor-made for a Democratic victory. It was the result of a racial gerrymander designed specifically to benefit black Democrat candidates, courtesy of the Louisiana legislature. And who had a hand in drawing this new district? None other than Cleo Fields himself, who was serving in the state legislature at the time.
That’s right — the man who would eventually run for this seat got to help shape it to his own advantage. It doesn’t get much more ethically dubious than that. And where was Jeff Landry, our Republican governor, while all this was happening? He was essentially endorsing it.
Landry let this racially engineered district map slide without a fight, essentially giving Cleo Fields everything he could have asked for. And what did Fields do in return? He blocked Landry’s legislative agenda when it came to a constitutional convention. Instead of facing consequences for his obstructionism, Fields got to cruise into a congressional seat, thanks to a district designed in his favor and Republican leaders who did nothing to oppose it. If Landry thought he’d get some cooperation from Fields by playing nice, he was sorely mistaken.
But the biggest failure here isn’t just that Landry rolled over for Fields. It’s that he — along with every other major Republican in the state — abandoned Elbert Guillory, a conservative black Republican who dared to run in a district stacked against him.
Guillory, a former state legislator who famously left the Democratic Party, has been an advocate for conservative values and had the potential to make this race competitive. Despite an uphill battle in a district gerrymandered against Republicans, Guillory came remarkably close to forcing a runoff against Fields. With just a little bit of support from Louisiana’s Republican leaders, Guillory might have made it to a runoff, giving conservatives a fighting chance to keep the seat out of Democratic hands.
Where were Senators John Kennedy and Bill Cassidy? Where were the other influential Republicans in the state? Guillory was putting up a strong fight in a tough district, and he got crickets from the people who should have been in his corner. It’s not like Louisiana Republicans haven’t mobilized before when they care enough to protect a seat. But this time, they left Guillory high and dry, despite the fact that he was challenging a Democrat in a district Republicans themselves helped create.
The irony here is painful. Louisiana’s top Republicans bent over backward to accommodate a racially gerrymandered map, practically handing Fields his new district on a silver platter. Yet when one of their own, a black Republican candidate, stepped up to fight for that seat, they couldn’t be bothered to lift a finger.
In a state where Democrats constantly lecture Republicans about racial inclusivity, here was a chance to show some real diversity within the GOP by supporting Guillory. Instead, Louisiana Republicans ignored him, and they’ve likely lost the district because of it.
The one Republican I can’t fault here is House Speaker Mike Johnson. Johnson was out there barnstorming the country, working to secure the GOP majority in the House, and frankly, he had his hands full. I have no doubt that if Guillory had made it to a runoff, Johnson would have been down here in Louisiana, pounding the pavement to support him.
But the rest of Louisiana’s Republicans? They had no excuse. They could have stepped up for Guillory in a race that desperately needed their support. Instead, they sat on their hands, and now the Democrats get another seat in Congress.
This failure is more than just a tactical error. It’s a message to Republican voters — and to black conservatives in particular — that Louisiana’s GOP leaders aren’t willing to stand up for one of their own when it matters. It’s a signal that they’re content to lose, even when they have a chance to win, because they’d rather avoid a fight than risk upsetting the political status quo. And it’s an embarrassing reminder that the so-called party of the people is often too busy protecting their own interests to protect the interests of their voters.
Republicans in Louisiana, especially Jeff Landry, have a lot to answer for after this election. The Democrats didn’t win this seat because they outmaneuvered anyone. They won because Louisiana Republicans handed it to them on a silver platter. If the GOP wants to keep calling itself the party of the people, then maybe it should start acting like it. That means supporting conservative candidates, even when the odds are long, and standing up against unethical power grabs — like a racially gerrymandered district designed to help one party dominate.
Governor Landry and the rest of Louisiana’s Republican leadership had an opportunity to show that they’re committed to conservative principles, that they’re willing to support Republican candidates of all backgrounds, and that they won’t back down in the face of a rigged game. Instead, they handed Cleo Fields a victory he didn’t earn and abandoned a candidate who could have given them a fighting chance.
If Louisiana Republicans are wondering why their base gets frustrated, they don’t need to look much further than the 6th Congressional District. Louisiana’s GOP establishment needs to wake up and realize that letting seats slip away out of sheer indifference isn’t just a loss on the scoreboard — it’s a betrayal of the people who put them in office. And it’s a betrayal of candidates like Elbert Guillory, who deserved a lot better than silence from the people who should have had his back.