Rep. Clay Higgins locks in his Louisiana congressional seat

Louisiana Illuminator illustration

U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, R-Lafayette, will stay in Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District seat after handily defeating three challengers on Election Day.

Higgins was on the way to a landslide victory with 72% of the vote over Democrats Priscilla Gonzales and Sadi Summerlin and Republican Zan John in the race. The Associated Press declared him the winner with votes still being counted.

Higgins has consistently hitched his star to former President Donald Trump, going so far as refusing to acknowledge Joe Biden won the 2020 election. 

A former law enforcement officer, Higgins faces a possible censure vote in the U.S. House for doubling down on false rumors Trump and GOP vice presidential candidate Sen. J.D. Vance spread that legal Haitian migrants in Springfield, Ohio, have killed and eaten pets. The city’s mayor and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine, both Republicans, have refuted the claims and asked Trump and Vance to renounce the rhetoric.

Higgins’ current assignments include the House Homeland Security Committee, on which he chairs the Subcommittee on Border Security and Enforcement. He also sits on the Armed Services and the Oversight & Accountability committees. 

The 3rd District covers portions of Acadiana and Louisiana’s coastal parishes from the Texas state line to Terrebonne.