Luke Letlow

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Luke Joshua Letlow

Republican Candidate, U.S. House of Representatives, 5th District of Louisiana

Letlow.png

Born December 6, 1979
Monroe, Louisiana

Reared in and resides in Start in Richland Parish, Louisiana

Political Party Republican
Spouse Julia Barnhill Leltow (married 2013)

Children
Jeremiah John
Jacqueline Taylor
Parents:
Johnny Lynn Letlow
Dianne Taylor Letlow
Alma mater:
Ouachita Christian High School (Monroe)
Louisiana Tech University

Religion Evangelical Presbyterian

Luke Joshua Letlow, (born December 6, 1979), is a Republican candidate for United States House of Representatives in Louisiana's 5th Congressional District in 2020. Prior to becoming a candidate, he served as the Chief of Staff to U.S. Representative Ralph Abraham from 2014-2020.

Early life

All four of Letlow’s grandparents grew up in the community of Start, LA., and knew each other well while attending Start High School. His paternal grandparents were John M. Letlow and Mary Janet (pronounced “Jean-ETTE”) Clement Letlow. His maternal grandparents were Richard Henry “Dick” Taylor and Mary Catherine Sullivan Taylor. While attending Ouachita Christian High School, Letlow was on the tennis and debate teams. While attending Louisiana Tech, he also served on the collegiate debate team. He received a TOPS scholarship and worked part-time as a shoe salesman to help pay his educational expenses.

Background

He resides in Start, a small community in Richland Parish, where he was also reared. He attended both elementary and junior high at Start. He graduated in 1998 from Ouachita Christian High School in Monroe and in 2003 from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems. He is the son of Johnny Lynn Letlow and Katherine Dianne Taylor Letlow. He has two siblings, Paul J. Letlow, of Start, Louisiana, and Matt J. Letlow, of Rockwall, Texas. He married Dr. Julia Barnhill Letlow on April 27, 2013. She (born March 16, 1981) graduated in 1999 from Ouachita Christian High School in Monroe. She is a graduate of the University of Louisiana at Monroe (2002) with a B.A. in Speech Communication, a Masters Degree from the University of Louisiana at Monroe (2005) in Speech Communication, and a Ph.D. from the University of South Florida (2011) in Communication. The couple has two children, Jeremiah John and Jacqueline Taylor.

Political life

Letlow has been a GOP activist in Louisiana dating back to his days at Louisiana Tech University. In 2001, he was elected President of the Louisiana Tech College Republicans. In 2002, he was elected as Chairman of the Louisiana Federation of College Republicans. During the summer of 2000, he served as a congressional intern for U.S. Representative John Cooksey, M.D. While working in Washington, D.C., Letlow attended the 2000 Republican National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he witnessed the first nomination of George W. Bush. In 2002, he worked on Cooksey's unsuccessful campaign for the U.S. Senate; victory went to liberal Democrat Mary Landrieu.

After graduating from Louisiana Tech, he joined the 2003 gubernatorial campaign staff of Bobby Jindal. Following Jindal’s unsuccessful bid, Letlow served as the political director for Jindal’s 2004 campaign for congress in Louisiana’s First Congressional district. In 2004, he was named district director for newly elected U.S. Representative Bobby Jindal. He attended the 2004 Republican National Convention in New York City and the 2012 conclave in Tampa, Florida, as a volunteer. He was elected as a delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio. He was again elected as a delegate to the 2020 convention but did not attend because the proceedings were virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Following Jindal’s successful second gubernatorial bid in 2007, Letlow joined the governor's executive staff in Baton Rouge, where he served as Special Assistant to the Governor. In 2010, Letlow left the Jindal administration to pursue a career in the private sector. He moved to Shreveport, Louisiana, where he served as Director of Community and Government Affairs for QEP Resources (formerly known as Questar). In 2013, he and his wife Julia moved to Denver, Colorado, the corporate headquarters of QEP Resources.

In 2014, Ralph Abraham announced his candidacy for the U.S. House of Representatives in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District. Letlow and his wife returned home to Louisiana, where he served as campaign chairman for Abraham’s successful bid for the seat. In January of 2015, Letlow was named Abraham’s chief of staff. In 2016, he was named "Top 20 under 40" in Northeast Louisiana.[1]

2020 congressional Race

On February 26, 2020, U.S. Representative Ralph Abraham announced that he would not seek a fourth term.[2]On March 9, 2020, Letlow officially announced his campaign for the seat and was endorsed immediately by Abraham.[3] "Luke has played a vital and integral part of every decision I've made in Congress," Abraham said. "If Luke should decide to get in the game he'll have my full backing," said Abraham. Letlow stepped down as Chief of Staff in order to run for the seat, as required by law.

On May 13, 2020, he named Andrew Bautsch as the campaign manager. Bautsch served previously as the Executive Director of the Louisiana Republican Party.[4] In addition to Bautsch, he hired veteran fundraiser Sally Nungesser.

On July 13, 2020, Letlow announced that his campaign had raised $572,609, all from donors, with $502,006 cash on hand. Republican state Rep. Lance Harris of Alexandria was second in fundraising with $119,768 dollars and $117,732 cash on hand. That total includes a candidate loan of $1,200. Republican Ouachita Parish Police Juror Scotty Robinson reported $56,538 cash on hand in his March 31, 2020, first-quarter report. Democrat Sandra "Candy" Christophe of Alexandria reported raising $19,212 and spending $29,190, leaving her with no cash on hand in the second-quarter report.[5]

On July 22, 2020, he officially qualified for the seat as a Republican, noting that he wants to "continue the great work done by Dr. Abraham, who I believe set the bar," Letlow said. "I'm the only candidate who has gotten results in Washington. I'm proud of what we've accomplished." [6] Other candidates qualifying for the seat include Republican Ouachita Parish Police Juror Scotty Robinson of Monroe; Sandra "Candy" Christophe, D-Alexandria; Allen Guillory Sr., R-Opelousas; "Matt" Hasty, R-Pineville; Jesse P. Lagarde, D-Amite; Martin Lemelle Jr., D-Ruston; Phillip Snowden, D-Monroe. On August 24, 2020, the campaign announced the release of its first campaign ad to be aired on television.[7] Letlow has received the endorsements of the Washington, Tangipahoa, Grant, Lasalle, and Ouachita Parish Republican Executive Committees.[8][9][10] He was endorsed by the Baton Rouge Business Report on October 6, 2020,[11] and on October 12, 2020, the campaign announced the additional endorsements of U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins.[12]

The general election is on November 3, 2020 and a runoff election is scheduled for December 5, 2020.[13]

Political positions

  • According to his website, Letlow describes himself as "100% pro-life," and pledges to defend the Second Amendment and religious liberties. He is a supporter of President Donald Trump. He supported Trump’s construction of a wall on the southern border: “Where I come from, I’ve always believed the old saying:'Good fences make good neighbors.'” He has called illegal immigration a serious threat to our nation’s security..[14][15]

External links

References

  1. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/money/2016/09/11/top-luke-letlow/90149084/
  2. https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/louisiana/articles/2020-02-26/abraham-wont-run-again-for-louisiana-congressional-seat
  3. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2020/03/09/luke-letlow-joins-congressional-race-ralph-abrahams-backing/4998583002/
  4. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2020/05/13/louisiana-gop-director-leaving-run-luke-letlows-congressional-campaign/5182657002/
  5. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2020/07/13/luke-letlow-rakes-big-fundraising-haul-5th-congressional-race/5427029002/
  6. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2020/07/22/heres-who-qualified-louisianas-only-open-congressional-seat-wednesday/5487037002/
  7. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2020/08/24/luke-letlows-congressional-campaign-first-go-up-tv-ads/3428624001/
  8. https://www.facebook.com/lukeletlowforcongress/videos/ouachita-rpec-endorsement/659672848015254/?__so__=permalink&__rv__=related_videos
  9. https://www.facebook.com/lukeletlowforcongress/videos/3490505424304934/
  10. https://thehayride.com/community/main-forum/the-first-pec-endorsement-in-the-5th-district-congressional-race-goes-to/
  11. https://www.businessreport.com/opinions/rolfe-mccollister-endorsements-steve-carter-mayor
  12. https://www.thenewsstar.com/story/news/2020/10/12/louisiana-congressmen-clay-higgins-garret-graves-endorse-luke-letlow/5965854002/
  13. https://www.sos.la.gov/ElectionsAndVoting/GetElectionInformation/Pages/default.aspx
  14. https://lukeletlow.com/
  15. https://lukeletlow.com/issues/