Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins will officially qualify for the US Senate race today, challenging incumbent Bill Cassidy.  Brooke Thorington has more

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Seven candidates for Louisiana’s 5^th Congressional District seat qualified on Wednesday. Kevin Barnhart recaps some of those that got on the ballot.

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A poll of 3,600 Louisianans shows bipartisan support for the statewide mask mandate and the public health emergency declaration. Matt Doyle has the story.

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Democratic Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins will challenge Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in the November 3rd election. Before he got into politics, Perkins served in the Army and is a former student body president at West Point and Harvard. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat says Cassidy can not underestimate Perkins.

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Perkins says Washington’s poor handling of the coronavirus outbreak persuaded him to jump into the Senate race. Pinsonat says Perkins is a qualified candidate, but running as a Democrat for a statewide office is a challenge in the Bayou State.

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Perkins announced his candidacy on the first day of qualifying and he’s expected to file his paper with the Secretary of State’s office today. It was unknown if Democrats would have a serious challenger. Pinsonat says Perkins entry into the race is good for voters.

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Qualifying ends on Friday.

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Seven candidates for Louisiana’s 5^th Congressional District seat qualified on Wednesday, looking to fill the position currently held by Ralph Abraham who is not pursuing an additional term.  Among them is Abraham’s Chief of Staff Luke Letlow, who says his campaign will not only run on the record and accomplishments of the current administration…

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Republican Ouachita Police Juror Scotty Robinson announced his bid for the position last November and says the traits he has picked up in local government and constituent accessibility are what set him apart from his opponents.

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Clinical social worker, addiction counselor, and small business owner Candy Christophe lives in Alexandria and is running as a Democrat and says she’s in the race because now is the time for her to be the change that she wants to see.

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Chief Operating Officer of Grambling State University Martin Lemelle of Ruston enters the race as a Democrat with a focus on education and helping local small businesses impacted by the pandemic.

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Alexandria Representative Lance Harris, a Republican, says he sees a bunch of career politicians in DC and touts his balance of holding elected office and being a business owner as the reason voters should cast a ballot for him.

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Additionally, Allen Guillory of Opelousas and Matt Hasty of Pineville, both Republican, qualified on Wednesday.  The primary election is scheduled for November 3^rd.

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Tropical Depression eight has formed in the central Gulf and it could dump a good bit of rain on the southern portion of the state on its way to Texas. National Weather Service forecaster Donald Williams…

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Parts of Louisiana could see some impacts as soon as this afternoon.

Williams says the system is not expected to develop into a hurricane, and at most may become a weak tropical storm…

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Williams says there’s a chance the depression produces some localized flooding in Louisiana but they are not projecting any wide-scale flooding events.

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A Remington Research Group poll commissioned by House Speaker Clay Schexnayder shows wide and bipartisan support for the Governor’s mask mandate and public health emergency declaration.

76 percent of those surveyed last weekend support a government mask mandate. UL Lafayette Poli Sci Professor Pearson Cross…

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57 percent of respondents agreed with the way the state government has handled the pandemic so far, only 26 percent disapproved.

61 percent of Louisianans oppose canceling the public health emergency declaration while only 22 percent agree. Cross says that’s a blow to legislative efforts to accomplish that.

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The 3,600 person poll is comprehensive and tightly follows demographic and political affiliation according to census data. Cross says that gives it a margin of error of only two percent…

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Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett says they are planning to proceed with the upcoming football season as scheduled. Burnett says they expect a full slate of games will be played on Labor Day weekend. Burnett says university presidents and athletic directors continue to meet and the health and safety of the student-athletes is their top priority…

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Burnett says how the pandemic is impacting cities where their schools are located is an important factor on whether the season can start on time. He says the conference will not have a policy on whether fans can attend football games

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The SWAC’s decision to move its football to the spring has created wholes in the schedule for some of their teams. Burnett says those schools are looking to replace those games…

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Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins announces he’s running for U-S Senate, giving Republican Incumbent Bill Cassidy a major challenger for the November 3rd election. Jeff Palermo has the story…

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Statewide COVID hospitalizations are nearly triple what they were at our low point on June 13^th. Matt Doyle reports healthcare providers are worried about hospital capacity again

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The National Hurricane Center is giving a tropical wave in the central Gulf of Mexico a high chance to develop into a tropical cyclone over the next two days. State Climatologist Barry Keim…

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But in the meantime, Keim says this disturbance will have a more immediate impact on the state.

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Keim says if this system continues to develop, we could see some high winds and storm surge along the coastline.

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There’s also Tropical Storm Gonzalo in the Atlantic, which is expected to reach the Caribbean on Saturday.

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Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins has announced he will run against Republican Senator Bill Cassidy in the November 3rd election. Perkins says he decided to run because America and Louisiana are at a crossroads

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Perkins gives Cassidy a major challenger from the Democratic Party, but Cassidy holds a huge fundraising advantage.

Perkins says he’s tired of the political games in Washington D-C and he wants to help create a government that serves everyone…

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Cassidy says he’s done a lot during his five years in the U-S Senate and plans to run on that record…

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Perkins will officially qualify tomorrow. John Paul Bourgeois from Gretna was the first person to sign up to challenge Cassidy. Bourgeois is an epidemiologist and public health librarian. The Gretna resident says he’s running against Cassidy because he tried to repeal the Affordable Care Act…

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Baton Rouge Democrat Antoine Pierce also signed up to run for US Senate on the first day of qualifying, Pierce says reducing poverty in Louisiana is his goal…

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Louisiana has added nearly 1,000 COVID hospitalizations since moving into Phase Two June 5th.

Assistant Health Secretary Dr. Alex Billioux says that’s concerning healthcare providers who are already dealing with an influx of patients who weren’t being treated during the stay at home order.

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We now have 1581 COVID hospitalizations, nearly triple our low point of 542 June 13^th.

In response, Governor Edwards issued a statewide mask mandate and closed bars last Monday. Billioux says they’re hoping to see results from that as early as next week.

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Some have argued that the recent wave is exaggerated due to increased testing numbers, but Billioux we’re seeing a steady rise in hospitalizations, and the state now has an over ten percent positive rate for COVID tests.

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Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell files paperwork seeking a fourth term in the office representing northwest Louisiana.

Campbell is one of the state’s longest-serving elected officials, first elected to the State Senate in 1975. Campbell says he wants to continue his work serving the working people of the state.

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Campbell has made several attempts to run for federal and statewide offices but has not been successful, his most recent effort a loss to now-Senator John Kennedy in 2016.

The Louisiana Political Hall of Famer says if given another term he will continue to fight for more rural broadband access and against predatory utility practices.

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