'''Ralph Lee Abraham, Jr.''' (born September 16, 1954), is an [[United States|American]] [[physician]] and former [[veterinarian]] from Mangham in Richland Parish in northeastern [[Louisiana]], who was elected in 2014 to the [[United States House of Representatives]] for his state's 5th congressional district, which encompasses a large swath of territory between [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] and [[Baton Rouge]]. He was a [[Republican Party|Republican]] candidate for [[governor]] in the 2019 nonpartisan blanket primary. He finished third with 317,115 votes (24 percent). The primary placed a second Republican, [[Eddie Rispone]], a Baton Rouge [[business]]man who largely self-financed his campaign, into the November 16 runoff election against the incumbent [[Democratic Party|Democrat]], [[John Bel Edwards]], who led the primary with exactly 626,000 votes (46.6 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://710keel.com/congressman-ralph-abraham-is-running-for-governor/|title=Congressman Ralph Abraham is running for governor|author=Erin McCarty|accessdate=December 6, 2018}}</ref><ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, October 12, 2019.</ref>
In December 2023, Louisiana Governor-elect [[Jeff Landry]] announced the appointment of Dr. Abraham as the new secretary of the Louisiana Department of Healthand Hospitals. Abraham, who supported Landry for governor , said that he and Landry want to make Louisiana’s health top tier and raise it from the bottom.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/gov-elect-jeff-landry-announces-major-cabinet-appointments-one-from-nela/ar-AA1lOzeQ?ocid=msedgntp&pc=DCTS&cvid=b72613576e4f4abcbe5361a2326eaab5&ei=13|title=Gov-elect Jeff Landry announces major cabinet appointments, one from NELA|publisher=msn.com|accessdate=December 20, 2023}}</ref>
==Background==