BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Louisiana has opened its election sign-up period with Republican U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander among the first candidates qualifying for a state race.
Alexander, who represents a mostly rural, northeast Louisiana-based district, is seeking a sixth term. He has no announced challengers so far.
The official qualifying period began Wednesday. Candidates must file paperwork and pay their fees by Friday if they want to run in the Nov. 6 election.
After the presidential race, top of the ballot around the state will be Louisiana's six U.S. House seats.
The most heated congressional battle is expected between two Republican incumbents - Charles Boustany of Lafayette and Jeff Landry of New Iberia - who were forced into the same southwest Louisiana district when the state lost a House seat because of population adjustments.