Louisiana Republican Garret Graves Finally Admits He Doesn't Have a District to Run In
Graves becomes the 47th and possibly final House retirement of the 2024 cycle.
Weeks after saying he would run for re-election somewhere this year, U.S. Representative Garret Graves of Louisiana, a Republican, has today accepted that he doesn’t have a viable district to run in. He will be leaving the U.S. House of Representatives after representing the state’s 6th Congressional District for five terms.
Graves, 52, is the 47th retirement from the lower legislative chamber of the U.S. Congress during the 2024 cycle - 25 Democrats and 22 Republicans. Notably, Graves was the chamber’s only incumbent who had yet to announce their plans for re-election. That means the map is essentially set for all 435 districts across the country.
Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District was dramatically altered earlier this year as a result of successful litigation ordering the creation of a second Black-majority district. Previously, Graves held a district based around the suburbs of Baton Rouge. Now, the district stretches across the state to cover Black neighborhoods in Baton Rouge and Shreveport as well as the entire city of Lafayette.
Before running for elected office himself, Graves previously served as an aide to U.S. Representative Billy Tauzin, U.S. Senator David Vitter and Governor Bobby Jindal. In 2014, he sought the open seat for the 6th District after incumbent Bill Cassidy left to successfully run for the U.S. Senate. That race was ultimately decided by a runoff with Graves prevailing 62.4-37.6 against former Governor Edwin Edwards, a Democrat.
Graves never had any problem being re-elected. He gained a higher percentage of the vote every time he was on the ballot. However, the radical change to his district flipped it from one Donald Trump carried 63.8-34.4 in the 2020 presidential election to a 59.0-39.3 margin for Joe Biden. Meanwhile, GOP leaders quickly consolidated their support around the other Republican incumbents in the state for re-election, essentially abandoning Graves.
Graves positioned himself as a key deputy during former U.S. Representative Kevin McCarthy of California’s tenure as Speaker of the House. Notably, he was the lead Republican negotiator with the White House in crafting the deal a year ago to raise the debt limit. However, he fell out of good standing after teasing a gubernatorial run in 2023 and ultimately recruiting a candidate to oppose the GOP frontrunner, then-Attorney General Jeff Landry. That strategy didn’t work as Landry won on the first round of the ballot.
Furthermore, it was reported that Graves helped sink his fellow Republican Representative from Louisiana Steve Scalise’s campaign to succeed McCarthy as Speaker. He openly questioned Scalise’s health prognosis following a blood cancer diagnosis. With Landry and Scalise maintaining their positions of authority, they used their powers to draw the maps to disadvantage Graves and force him out of the legislative chamber. Graves has finally accepted that reality while still suggesting a future in Louisiana politics depending on further rulings from the courts.
The new district lines in Louisiana were passed in January 2024. Since then, former U.S. Representative and current State Senator Cleo Fields, a Democrat, has largely had the field to himself. The filing deadline to appear on the November 5 nonpartisan ballot is July 19, 2024. A runoff will occur on December 7 if none of the candidates achieve a 50%+1 majority. Again, the contours of the race could change in the remaining month before the deadline. However, Fields is the overwhelming favorite given how no one has stepped up to challenge him. Instead, he’s had months to fundraise and build up a ground campaign throughout the district.