Luke Letlow | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member-elect of the U.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's5th district | |
| Died before assuming office | |
| Preceded by | Ralph Abraham (as member) |
| Succeeded by | Julia Letlow (as member) |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Luke Letlow (1979-12-06)December 6, 1979 Monroe, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Died | December 29, 2020(2020-12-29) (aged 41) Shreveport, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Complications due toCOVID-19 |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Education | Louisiana Tech University (BS) |
Luke Joshua Letlow[2] (December 6, 1979 – December 29, 2020)[3][4] was an American businessman and politician fromLouisiana. ARepublican, he was elected to theUnited States House of Representatives forLouisiana's 5th congressional district in 2020, but died from complications caused byCOVID-19 five days before he was due to take office in the117th Congress. Before his election to Congress, Letlow served aschief of staff to RepresentativeRalph Abraham. Three months after his death, Letlow's widowJulia was elected to the vacant seat in aspecial election.
Letlow was raised in the unincorporated community ofStart, east ofMonroe, and was the youngest son of Dianne and Johnny Letlow. He graduated fromOuachita Christian High School and earned aBachelor of Science in computer information systems fromLouisiana Tech University in 2003.[5] As a student at Louisiana Tech, Letlow was an intern forJohn Cooksey in 2000 when Cooksey representedLouisiana's 5th congressional district in theUnited States House of Representatives.[6] He served as chairman of the Louisiana TechCollege Republicans in 2001 and of the Louisiana Federation of College Republicans in 2002.[5][6][7]
Letlow worked forBobby Jindal during Jindal's tenure in theUnited States House of Representatives forLouisiana's 1st congressional district as his congressional district director from 2005 to 2008, and during Jindal's first term asgovernor of Louisiana as director of intergovernmental affairs from 2008 to 2010.[8] He then worked as director of government and community affairs forQEP Resources, an energy company based inDenver.[9][3] Letlow returned to Louisiana in 2014 to serve as campaign manager forRalph Abraham during hiselection for Louisiana's 5th congressional district.[6] He served as Abraham'schief of staff during his three-term tenure.[7]
On March 9, 2020, after Abraham honored his pledge not to serve more than three terms, Letlow announced his candidacy.[10] Abraham publicly endorsed him concurrent with Letlow's announcement.[7] In thenonpartisan blanket primary on November 3, Letlow finished in first place with 33% of the vote, while State RepresentativeLance Harris, a fellow Republican, finished second with 17%.[11] Letlow won the December 5runoff election with 62% of the vote.[12][13] The district is Louisiana's largest by area, covering most of 24 parishes, and includesAlexandria andMonroe, the population hubs, andOpelousas inAcadiana andBogalusa in theFlorida Parishes.[10]
Despite theCOVID-19 pandemic, Letlow wore a mask only sporadically during his campaign, and was photographed speaking indoors to constituents when masks were not being worn by him or those gathered.[14] In October, he had encouraged Louisiana officials to relax pandemic restrictions, warning, "We're now at a place if we do not open our economy, we're in real danger."[14]
Letlow lived inStart, Louisiana, with his wife,Julia, and their two young children.[7]
On December 18, 2020, Letlow announced that he had tested positive forCOVID-19. He was hospitalized in Monroe.[15] After his condition deteriorated, he was transferred to theintensive care unit (ICU) ofOchsner LSU Health Shreveport on December 23.[16] On December 29, Letlow died from the virus at age 41.[4][15] The hospital reported that he had no underlying conditions when admitted but died in the ICU after suffering a "cardiac event" and could not be resuscitated.[17][18]
Louisiana GovernorJohn Bel Edwards ordered flags in the state to be flown athalf-staff on the day of Letlow's funeral.[17] He also scheduled thespecial election to fill Letlow's vacancy for March 20, 2021, with an April runoff if needed.[19] His widow Julia Letlow ran in the special election,[20] and won, avoiding a runoff.[21][22]
... Letlow, who turns 41 on Sunday ...'
The following statement was issued by [Andrew] Bautsch: 'Congressman-elect Luke Letlow, 41, passed away this evening at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport due to complications from COVID-19.'
| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member-elect of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's 5th congressional district 2020 | Succeeded by |