BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The special congressional election hasn't even been called yet, but a state senator running for the post already has picked up support from a Louisiana congressman.
Republican state Sen. Neil Riser of Columbia received the endorsement Thursday of GOP U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, of Lafayette, in the race to fill the seat representing Louisiana's 5th District.
The seat will be vacant when Republican Congressman Rodney Alexander resigns in September to take a job as veterans secretary for Gov. Bobby Jindal. Jindal has said he'll call the special election for Oct. 19, but he hadn't yet issued the proclamation Thursday.
Also announced as a candidate in the 5th District race is state Rep. Marcus Hunter, a Democrat from Monroe.
The 5th District is largely rural, stretching across northeast and central Louisiana.