State Rep. Gabe Firment, a Republican from rural central Louisiana, announced Wednesday that he’ll run for the 5th Congressional District seat that U.S. Rep. Julia Letlow is vacating.
Firment, who lives in Pollock in Grant Parish, has built a solidly conservative voting record during his six years in the state House.
“Louisiana’s 5th District deserves a fighter who will stand firm and deliver results,” Firment said. “I’m ready to take that fight to Washington.”
Firment joins a race that already includes one state House colleague, Michael Echols, R-Monroe, and another Republican from Monroe: Misti Cordell, who was appointed by Gov. Jeff Landry to chair the state Board of Regents.
State Sen. Stewart Cathey, R-Monroe, is expected to announce his candidacy in the coming days.
Echols and Cordell have been running for the seat for months, giving them a head start in raising money and winning over key people in the district.
The three are now running in a district that was quickly redrawn by the state Legislature in May after the Supreme Court ruled the state’s congressional map was unconstitutional. The new map turned the 6th Congressional District, represented by Cleo Fields, a Black Democrat from Baton Rouge, into a White-majority district.
includes all or parts of 24 parishes – stretching from Monroe south to Avoyelles and Rapides parishes and east to the Florida Parishes. It was designed to elect a Republican.
Candidates will qualify for the seat on Aug. 5-7. The open primary is on Nov. 3. If no candidate receives above 50%, the top two finishers will advance to a December runoff.
Letlow is giving up the seat by running for the U.S. Senate.
Firment, 55, received an undergraduate degree from Louisiana Christian University and and an MBA from Louisiana Tech and is a deacon and Sunday School teacher at his church.
A leading conservative voice on insurance issues, Firment chairs the House Insurance Committee, an assignment he received from the speaker both because of his in-depth knowledge of the subject and his leadership abilities.
Firment spent most of his career as an insurance adjustor. He now works as a consultant helping home and business owners with disputed insurance claims.
In 2023, in the final year of his first term, Firment sponsored a measure to ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender youth that of perhaps the most controversial issue of that year’s legislative session.
Conservative activists hailed the legislation, while critics said it maligned a small, vulnerable population.
The Republican-controlled Legislature approved the measure, House Bill 648, then-Gov. John Bel Edwards vetoed it, and legislators took the exceedingly rare step of overriding the governor to have it become law.
In 2025, the Legislature passed that prohibits undocumented immigrants who are injured in car accidents from collecting general damages.
That same year, Firment showed his independent side by criticizing Gov. Jeff Landry’s effort to pass a bill that put him at odds with Insurance Commissioner Tim Temple. In the face of opposition from Firment and other Republicans, Landry had to to get it passed. Firment voted for the final version.