Name: Amid rumors of White House post for Cedric Richmond, what might happen with his congressional seat?
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Amid rumors of White House post for Cedric Richmond, what might happen with his congressional seat?

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You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.With chatter building that Cedric Richmond could resign his congressional seat to take a position in President-elect Joe Biden's new administration, jockeying and speculation over who will fill his not-yet-empty seat is already frenzied.Richmond, who just cruised to re-election, has previously disavowed interest in leaving his current job on Capitol Hill. On Friday afternoon, he dismissed questions about the talk of his potential exit -- though he did not flatly rule it out either.“There's nothing to report,” said Richmond. “Even though everybody's trying to push me out, there's nothing to report.”Richmond’s public demurrals haven’t stopped behind-the-scenes discussions among Democrats and politicos eyeing a potential campaign to fill his congressional seat -- which represents most of New Orleans, the River Parishes and parts of Baton Rouge -- should the veteran congressman take a White House post.A well-known Louisiana pollster last week took the pulse of voters on several potential candidates to replace Richmond last week. Veteran state political reporter Jeremy Alford first reported the results of that poll under the headline, “All Eyes on Cedric.”A crowded field of potential candidates will almost certainly consider a campaign should Richmond decide to leave Congress. His departure would trigger a special election that, depending on the timing of his exit, would likely begin with a primary in March and a runoff in April.Among the names bandied about most frequently: New Orleans state Sen. Troy Carter, New Orleans City Councilmember Helena Moreno, state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson of New Orleans&nbsp;and state Sen. Cleo Fields of Baton Rouge.Carter, Moreno and Peterson all ran for the congressional seat more than a decade ago, having all challenged embattled then-U.S. Rep. Bill Jefferson, who later went to prison on federal corruption charges. Fields is a former two-term congressman himself, having represented Louisiana’s fourth congressional district from 1993 to 1997.All are Democrats, as was nearly every name bandied about in conversations with numerous people in and around southeast Louisiana politics. Voters in the majority Black congressional district tend to overwhelmingly prefer Democrats, and the party is considered a virtual lock to maintain hold of the seat.The biggest stories in business, delivered to you every day. Sign up today.Carter, Moreno, Peterson all praised Richmond’s decade-long tenure and said the state would be well-served if he remained in Congress, but said they’d definitely consider running if he were to leave.“If he should elect to take a job in the Biden administration, which would be very beneficial to the people of Louisiana, I’m very interested in succeeding him,” Carter said. “If he moves on, I’d be very interested in carrying on that legacy of supporting the people of Louisiana.”“If he stays in Congress, that's really good for Louisiana as well because he's going to grow in leadership,” Peterson said. “I’m going to be happy for him either way.”If the seat came open, though, she said she would “absolutely” be interested in it.Moreno, too, said she “would have to look seriously at running again” if Richmond left Congress.Fields was the only one of the four who refused to entertain the speculation. “I would just hate the thought of Congressman Richmond leaving Congress with the kind of seniority he has in the House,” he said. “I don’t want to speculate about his seat, the seat he represents, as long as he represents it.”Other names mentioned as potential candidates included state Reps. Royce Duplessis of New Orleans, Kyle Green Jr. of Marrero and Randal Gaines of LaPlace, as well as state Sen. Jimmy Harris of New Orleans and former St. John the Baptist Parish President Natalie Robottom.One person who said he is definitely not interested in running for the seat is former New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, whose name was included in the recent poll of potential candidates alongside Carter, Fields, Moreno and Peterson.Landrieu, whose name has also come up as a potential Biden appointee, said he’s “not running for Congress,” but added that he looks forward “to continuing to contribute in a meaningful way.”© Copyright 2022 , 840 St. Charles Avenue New Orleans, LA&nbsp;| &nbsp;|Powered by from .

You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.With chatter building that Cedric Richmond could resign his congressional seat to take a position in President-elect Joe Biden's new administration, jockeying and speculation over who will fill his not-yet-empty seat is already frenzied.Richmond, who just cruised to re-election, has previously disavowed interest in leaving his current job on Capitol Hill. On Friday afternoon, he dismissed questions about the talk of his potential exit -- though he did not flatly rule it out either.“There's nothing to report,” said...

Amid rumors of White House post for Cedric Richmond, what might happen with his congressional seat?

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