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From the Editor: 3rd District race gets interesting

St. Mary, and the 3rd Congressional District of which it’s a part, are reliably conservative.
That doesn’t mean the upcoming congressional election will lack drama.
On Wednesday, we published a statement from U.S. Rep. Clay Higgins, the Port Barre Republican who represents the 3rd District, in support of President Donald Trump’s immigration policy. Protests over the administration’s decision to separate undocumented immigrants from their children were reaching a crescendo.
“If an American citizen commits a crime, they will be separated from their children,” Higgins' statement said. “There are more than 750,000 incarcerated Americans that are separated from their children. This is no different.”
The statement demonstrated more resolve than the president did, as things turned out. The ink wasn’t dry on Wednesday afternoon’s paper before the president signed an order reversing the family separation policy, although undocumented immigrants still will be detained together as families.
There was more drama, even New York City tabloid-style drama, in the 3rd District race.
Politico reports that Rudy Giuliani, who represents President Trump, will appear Monday in Lafayette at a fundraiser for Josh Guillory. He’s a Youngsville Republican who is challenging Higgins in the Nov. 6 primary.
Guillory appeared June 5 at the Berwick Town Council meeting for a brief how-do-you-do. He said he favors a balanced budget and wants to give people a voice in their government again.
The kicker is that Giuliani, a diehard defender of the president in various investigations, is appearing for Guillory even though Higgins, a big Trump guy, is the opponent.
The link is Jennifer LeBlanc, a Lafayette political consultant who once worked for Higgins and now represents Guillory. LeBlanc is dating Giuliani.
Trump was a 63-35 winner over Democrat Hillary Clinton in St. Mary in 2016. Higgins won the parish by about the same margin over the favored Scott Angelle of neighboring St. Martin, also a Republican.
Statewide, Trump won 58-38 over Clinton.
Higgins rode his reputation as the Cajun John Wayne of occasionally incendiary Crime Stoppers videos in St. Landry Parish.
Aside from Guillory, he faces more challengers on the Democratic side:
—Phillip Conner of Lake Charles, whose website consists of a link to a Wikipedia article on the Lilly Ledbetter equal pay law.
—Mildred “Mimi” Methvin, a Lafayette attorney and former U.S. magistrate who has focused attention on justice system reform.
—Verone Thomas, a Lake Charles veteran who says he wants to rebuild our infrastructure and push for mass transit.
Two independents are also in the running:
—Rob Anderson of DeQuincy, a writer and self-described progressive independent.
—Dave Langlinais, who is running against what he calls a broken system. His 12-point plan includes campaign reform and health care reform.
Qualifying will be July 18-20. The primary will be Nov. 6.

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