Clay Higgins | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2024 | |
| Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's3rd district | |
| Assumed office January 3, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Charles Boustany |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Glen Clay Higgins (1961-08-24)August 24, 1961 (age 64) New Orleans,Louisiana, U.S. |
| Party | Republican |
| Spouse(s) | |
| Children | 4 |
| Education | Louisiana State University (dropped out) |
| Website | House website Campaign website |
| Military service | |
| Branch/service | |
| Years of service | 1979–1985 |
| Rank | Staff Sergeant |
| Unit | Military Police Corps |
| Police career | |
| Department | Opelousas City Police Department Port Barre Police Department St. Landry Parish Sheriff's Office Lafayette City Marshal Louisiana Department of Justice |
| Service years | 2005–2007 (Opelousas) 2007–2010 (Port Barre) 2011–2016 (Sheriff's Office) 2016–2019 (City Marshal) 2019–present (Louisiana Department of Justice) |
| Rank | Captain |
Higgins on theDistrict of Columbia Policing Protection Act. Recorded September 17, 2025 | |
Glen Clay Higgins (born August 24, 1961) is an American politician and reservelaw enforcement officer from the state ofLouisiana. ARepublican, Higgins is theU.S. representative forLouisiana's 3rd congressional district. The district, which contains much of the territory once represented by former governorEdwin Edwards and former U.S. senatorJohn Breaux, is in the southwestern corner of the state and includesLafayette,Lake Charles, andNew Iberia. Higgins won therunoff election on December 10, 2016, defeating fellow RepublicanScott Angelle.
As well as being an elected official, Higgins continues to hold a law enforcement commission in a reserve capacity with theLouisiana attorney general's office.[1] Higgins has appeared and spoken at events organized by groups such as theThree Percenters and theOath Keepers,[2] and has claimed to be a "Three Percenter" at speaking engagements.[3] He is a member of theHouse Freedom Caucus,[4] and his political views have been identified asfar-right.[5][6][7] Higgins was the solemember of Congress to have voted against theEpstein Files Transparency Act.[8]
Higgins is the seventh of eight children. He was born inNew Orleans, and his family moved toCovington, Louisiana, when he was six years old. The family raised and trained horses.[9] After graduation fromCovington High School, he attendedLouisiana State University inBaton Rouge, Louisiana, but did not graduate.[10]
At age 18, Higgins enlisted in theMilitary Police Corps of theLouisiana National Guard, serving for six years (1979–85) and reaching the rank ofstaff sergeant.[10][11][12] Higgins supported the1992 presidential campaign ofPat Buchanan and thegubernatorial campaign ofKu Klux Klan leaderDavid Duke, despite Higgins describing Duke as a "Nazi" to anAtlanta Journal-Constitution reporter.[13][14]
He worked for several years as a manager ofcar dealerships.[9]
In 2004, Higgins became a patrol officer for theOpelousas City police department. By 2007, police chief Perry Gallow was prepared to take major disciplinary action against Higgins who was accused of beating a Black man who was handcuffed, then lying about it.[15] In a letter to the city council, the police chief wrote, "Clay Higgins used unnecessary force on a subject during the execution of a warrant and later gave false statements during an internal investigation...although he later recanted his story and admitted to striking a suspect in handcuffs and later releasing him".[16] Higgins resigned before disciplinary action could be imposed.
The other patrolman involved in the 2007 incident, John Chautin, was later hired as a member of Higgins' congressional office in 2017.[17][18] Chautin was first hired as a field representative but as of 2025, works as Higgins' district office director.[19]
During the 2007 investigation into his mistreatment of an unarmed and handcuffed Black man, Higgins was caught in hisSWAT vehicle and gear making an alcohol purchase at a gas station in violation of department rules. Higgins and another officer were heading to a competition including other members of theSWAT team. St. Landry Sheriff Bobby Guidroz would later claim he would have never hired Higgins had he known of these events.[17]
In September 2016, during his congressional campaign, Higgins claimed to have resigned from the police force for other reasons, calling Gallow "a peacock, a colorful, flightless bird". Gallow, by then retired as police chief, publicly disputed Higgins's version of events.[16]
Higgins worked for thePort Barre police department through 2010. In 2011, he joined theSt. Landry Parish sheriff's office. After the office'spublic information officer was reassigned in October 2014, Higgins was appointed to the position and promoted tocaptain.[9][20] As public information officer, Higgins made videos for the parishCrime Stoppers program. He first used standard scripts, but began to improvise in his own style, appealing to suspects to surrender and sometimes threatening them by name.[21] His videos wentviral, and in 2015 he was described by national media as the "CajunJohn Wayne" for his intimidating persona.[11] Sheriff Bobby Guidroz urged restraint, advising Higgins to refrain from personal comments about suspects and to keep a professional tone in his videos.[22]
Higgins filmed a video for the state police, with a script that prompted protests from suspects' families and theACLU. He resigned from the St. Landry Parish sheriff's office in February 2016.[23][24] Guidroz had warned him against using disrespectful and demeaning language about suspects, ordering him to "Tone down his unprofessional comments on our weekly Crime Stoppers messages".[22] He issued a statement saying that Higgins's comments underlined "a growing undertone of insubordination and lack of discipline on Higgins' part".[25] Guidroz said that Higgins had gone against department policy by misusing his badge and uniform for personal profit and gain, citing Higgins's wearing a uniform in an ad for a security firm. He also reprimanded Higgins for using his badge and uniform on his personal website to support sales of T-shirts and shot glasses for his limited liability corporation (LLC). Higgins had also used the department's physical address in registering his corporation with the state. Both actions were against department policy.[22]
Salon reported that during this period, Higgins "negotiated paid speaking appearances with other police departments. In one email, Higgins discussed his request for a speaker's fee that included shopping money for his wife and part of the fuel for a friend's private plane."[26] He asked for cash payments. Higgins also conducted his private business via email on "his government email-account during work hours without the permission or knowledge of his supervisors. Higgins also appears to have attempted to conceal his earnings from theIRS in order to avoidwage garnishment for unpaid taxes. Whether those actions constitute tax fraud is unclear."[26]
Shortly after resigning fromSt. Landry Parish, in March 2016, Higgins was accepted and sworn in as areserve deputy marshal in the city ofLafayette, Louisiana.[27] Reserve forces in city and Parish sheriff's offices in Louisiana receive regular training and are commissioned as law enforcement officers. They are part-time and made up of persons from many walks of life.[28]
In 2019, Higgins retired his commission as areserve deputy marshal. He maintains an active law enforcement commission as a reserve officer with the Louisiana attorney general's office.[1]
Higgins was awarded the title ofKentucky colonel in March 2016 byKentucky governorMatt Bevin.[29]
After Higgins resigned from the St. Landry sheriff's office, Chris Comeaux, a Republicancampaign staffer, recruited him to run for office.[21] In May 2016, Higgins declared his candidacy in the2016 election in the 3rd district.[30][31] He crossed district lines to run for this seat, as his home inPort Barre is in the neighboring5th district. Members of the House are only constitutionally required to live in the state they represent.[10] Asuper PAC headed by US senatorDavid Vitter's former chief of staff supported Higgins's candidacy.[30]
Higgins finished second in thenonpartisan blanket primary held on November 8, behind RepublicanScott Angelle, in which nearly 68% of the parish voted.[30][32] He faced Angelle in arunoff election on December 10 and won with 56.1% of the vote; turnout had declined to about 28% of voters.[30]
Higgins was challenged byDemocrats Rob Anderson, Mildred "Mimi" Methvin, Larry Rader, and Verone Thomas, Libertarian Aaron Andrus, and Republican Josh Guillory.[33]Donald Trump endorsed Higgins.[34] He defeated all six challengers in the jungle primary, winning reelection without a runoff.[35]
In response to protests in response to the police shooting death ofTrayford Pellerin, Higgins made a post on Facebook stating he would "drop 10 of you where you stand".[36]
Higgins was reelected with 67.76% of the vote to Democrat Braylon Harris's 17.89%, Democrat Rob Anderson's 11.59%, and Libertarian Brandon Leleux's 2.75%.
Higgins was reelected with 64.3% of the vote to Republican Holden Hoggatt's 10.9%, Democrat Lessie Olivia Leblanc's 10.5%, Democrat Tia LeBrun's 9.4%, Republican Thomas "Lane" Payne, Jr.'s 1.8%, Independent Gloria R. Wiggins's 1.4%, Republican Jacob "Jake" Shaheen's 0.9%, and Libertarian Guy McLendon's 0.7%.
Higgins was reelected with 70.6% of the vote. Democratic challengers Priscilla Gonzalez and Sadi Summerlin won 18.7% and 6.6% of the vote, respectively, while Republican challenger Xan John won 4.1%.
Higgins was sworn into theUnited States House of Representatives on January 3, 2017.[37]
He has claimed to sleep on anair mattress on the floor of his Capitol Hill office.[38][39] He works out and showers in the House gymnasium in the early morning.
Higgins voted with other Republicans in favor of theAmerican Health Care Act of 2017, which would have repealed and replaced major portions of thePatient Protection and Affordable Care Act.[40] In December 2017, Higgins voted with other Republicans in favor of theTax Cuts and Jobs Act.[41][42]
During aHouse Homeland Security Committee hearing on November 15, 2023, Higgins floated an unfoundedconspiracy theory that violence during theJanuary 6 United States Capitol attack were caused by FBI agents infiltrating the protests through "ghost buses" and posing as Trump supporters.[43]
As of the117th Congress, Higgins voted with PresidentJoe Biden's stated position 2% of the time according to aFiveThirtyEight analysis.[44]
Higgins was among 71 Republicans who voted against final passage of theFiscal Responsibility Act of 2023 in the House.[45]
On July 29, 2024, Higgins was announced as one of seven Republican members of a bipartisan task force investigating theattempted assassination of Donald Trump in Pennsylvania.[46]
For the118th Congress:[4]
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Higgins isanti-abortion and has compared abortion tothe Holocaust.[49]
During theCOVID-19 pandemic, Higgins was an outspoken skeptic, and asserted that theChinese Communist Party had created the disease as part of abiological warfare campaign.[50]
In a May 2020 CNN interview, Higgins described face masks as a "bacteria trap" and said they did not help to slow the spread of COVID-19, noting that he did not believe they were effective as smells are able to pass through them.[51]
In May 2021, Higgins wrote on Facebook, "I do not support mandatory vaccines, mask mandates or any form of required vaccine passport."[50] In July 2021, he introduced a bill that would make it illegal for employers to mandate vaccination for their employees.[52]
In the same month, Higgins confirmed that he and his wife had both contracted COVID-19 in January 2020, and that they had since contracted it a second time, along with their son.[52][53] He has not publicly revealed his vaccination status.[50]
In December 2024, Higgins sponsored a HR 10549 which would abolish theEnvironmental Protection Agency.
Higgins has consistently claimed to be a defender offree expression and theFirst Amendment. In 2023, he co-sponsored House Resolution 140 (Protecting Speech from Government Interference Act), stating in a press release that "no single organization, including the federal government, should determine what constitutes as an acceptable form of speech".[54][55]
In September 2025, three days afterthe assassination ofright-wing political activistCharlie Kirk, Higgins detailed in a post onX his plans to use federal authority in retaliation against Americans who, in his judgment, had expressed opinions which "belittled" the event, including lobbying social media platforms to permanently ban them from access for life.[56] Higgins also claimed he would seek to revoke the driving privileges,debank, and expel from school anyone he views as celebrating the death of Kirk.[57]
Higgins supportsgun rights and opposes the regulation of firearms. In 2017, he said, "The modern hysteria over guns is another example of our weakened society. Guns weren't really regulated at all prior to the '60s in America. Throughout our history, prior to just 50 years ago, a child could purchase a gun from any seller, if Daddy sent him with the money."[49]
Higgins has endorsed the use of firearms for political confrontation. He has appeared at rallies hosted by theOath Keepers and publicly praised theThree Percenters, militia groups that advocate violent action against the United States government.[3]
In July 2018, House Democrats called for a floor vote on abolishingU.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). House Republicans refused and called for the House to vote on a resolution by Higgins andKevin McCarthy to support ICE.[58]
Higgins opposessame-sex marriage. He says he believes that states should have the right to ban same-sex marriage, contrary to theSupreme Court's ruling inObergefell v. Hodges.[49]
Higgins supported Trump's 2017Executive Order 13679 to temporarily curtail travel from certain Muslim majority countries, saying, "The president's executive order for a short-term restriction on visa entries from seven countries that are known to foster terrorists, combined with a systematic review of our immigration and vetting procedure, is reasonable."[59]
Higgins has promoted himself and spoken at rallies by anti-government militia groups.[3]
On February 28, 2022, in response to theRussian invasion of Ukraine, Higgins tweeted, "You millennial leftists who never lived one day under nuclear threat can now reflect upon your woke sky. You made quite a non-binary fuss to save the world from intercontinental ballistic tweets", the meaning of which became a subject of minor debate.[60][61]
In December 2020, Higgins was one of 126 Republican members of theHouse of Representatives to sign anamicus brief in support ofTexas v. Pennsylvania, a lawsuit filed at theUnited States Supreme Court contesting the results of the2020 presidential election, in whichJoe Biden defeated incumbentDonald Trump. The Supreme Court declined to hear the case on the basis that Texas lackedstanding underArticle III of the Constitution to challenge the results of an election held by another state.
On March 19, 2024, Higgins voted against House Resolution 149 condemning the illegal abduction and forcible transfer of children fromUkraine to theRussian Federation. He was one of nine Republicans to do so.[62]
Higgins has introduced legislation to prohibit the transfer ofArmy Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to Ukraine.[63]
On November 18, 2025, Higgins was the sole member of Congress to vote against theEpstein Files Transparency Act, a bill compelling theU.S. Department of Justice to release all files related to convicted sex offenderJeffrey Epstein.[64][8] Higgins posted onX, (formerly Twitter):
I have been a principled "NO" on this bill from the beginning. What was wrong with the bill three months ago is still wrong today. It abandons 250 years of criminal justice procedure in America. As written, this bill reveals and injures thousands of innocent people – witnesses, people who provided alibis, family members, etc. If enacted in its current form, this type of broad reveal of criminal investigative files, released to a rabid media, will absolutely result in innocent people being hurt. Not by my vote. The Oversight Committee is conducting a thorough investigation that has already released well over 60,000 pages of documents from the Epstein case. That effort will continue in a manner that provides all due protections for innocent Americans. If the Senate amends the bill to properly address privacy of victims and other Americans, who are named but not criminally implicated, then I will vote for that bill when it comes back to the House.[65]
 | This"criticism" or "controversy" sectionmay compromise the article'sneutrality. Please helpintegrate negative information into other sections or removeundue focus on minor aspects throughdiscussion on thetalk page.(November 2025) |
Several of Higgins's Facebook posts have been removed for contravening the company's policy against inciting violence.[66]
In June 2017, following theLondon Bridge terror attack, Higgins wrote on Facebook: "The free world... all of Christendom... is at war with Islamic horror. Not one penny of American treasure should be granted to any nation who harbors these heathen animals. Not a single radicalized Islamic suspect should be granted any measure of quarter. Their intended entry to the American homeland should be summarily denied. Every conceivable measure should be engaged to hunt them down. Hunt them, identity [sic] them, and kill them. Kill them all. For the sake of all that is good and righteous. Kill them all."[67]
On June 25, 2017, Higgins was slated for a speech at the "Rally for Free Speech" held in DC and attended by far-right and neo-Nazi groups.White supremacistRichard Spencer was also the main speaker at the event. Higgins did not end up speaking, but later spoke to a smaller crowd ofOath Keepers at a separate event.[68]
In early July 2017, Higgins posted a five-minute video onYouTube fromAuschwitz concentration camp, including a section from within one of thegas chambers. He said, "This is whyhomeland security must be squared away, why our military must be invincible".[69] This video was widely condemned as inappropriate, including by theAuschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum, whose spokesman wrote in anX, (formerly Twitter) post that "the building should not be used as a stage".[70][71] Higgins later removed the video and issued an apology.[72][69]
On September 1, 2020, Higgins posted a photograph of protesters at aBlack Lives Matter protest inLouisiana, suggesting that armed demonstrators should be met with force to "eliminate the threat".[66] After Facebook deleted the post, Higgins wrote: "We don't care what color you are. We don't care if you're left or right. America is being manipulated into a new era of government control. Your liberty is threatened from within. [...] Welcome to the front lines, Ladies and Gentlemen. I suggest you get your mind right. I'll advise when it's time gear up, mount up, and roll out." This post was deleted for contravening the same policy.[66][73][74][75]
In October 2022, following a politically motivatedattack on Paul Pelosi, the husband of thenHouse speakerNancy Pelosi, Higgins mocked the attack and tweeted since deleted conspiracy theories on the incident.[76][77][78]
On May 17, 2023, Higgins was recorded shoving, grabbing and moving a protester during an event inWashington, D.C.[79]
In 2023, following the federal indictment of former presidentDonald Trump andWalt Nauta, Higgins Tweeted "President Trump said he has been summoned to appear at the Federal Courthouse in Miami on Tuesday, at 3 PM. This is a perimeter probe from the oppressors. Hold. rPOTUS has this. Buckle up. 1/50K know your bridges. Rock steady calm. That is all." Higgins later walked the call back with another Tweet saying "Let Trump handle Trump, he's got this". Higgins' office issued a statement claiming that the real target of the indictment was not Trump but his supporters, and that theDepartment of Justice was attempting to provokeJanuary 6-style events in order to provide a pretext to arrest conservatives.[80][81]
On September 25, 2024, Higgins made a post on X (formerly twitter), disparagingHaitians, tweeting "Lol. These Haitians are wild.Eating pets,vudu [sic], nastiest country in the western hemisphere, cults, slapstick gangsters... but damned if they don't feel all sophisticated now, filing charges against our President and VP. All these thugs better get their mind right and their ass out of our country before January 20th." The tweet was deleted by Higgins hours later following backlash by both Democrats and Republicans.[82] TheCongressional Black Caucus introduced a resolution tocensure Higgins for his post, characterizing it as "bigotry and racism". The censure vote never occurred and the resolution did not advance to a full House vote.[14]
Higgins has been married four times. Higgins first married Eloisa Rovati. They had a daughter together, who died a few months after she was born. Higgins and Rovati later divorced. Rovati alleged that Higgins held a gun to her head andthreatened to shoot her during an argument, a claim Higgins has repeatedly denied.[83] Rovati later died in an automobile crash.[11] Higgins then married Rosemary "Stormy" Rothkamm-Hambrice. He adopted her child from a previous marriage, and they had two more children together.[84] They divorced in 1999.[10][85][86] Higgins's third wife was Kara Seymour. They also divorced. Higgins lives inPort Barre, Louisiana, with his fourth wife, Becca.[10]
Rothkamm-Hambrice, then living inMississippi, filed suit against him the day after the 2016 election for unpaid child support of more than $140,000, including interest on overdue payments.[85][87] Higgins said that he sought reduced payments in 2005 after changing careers to law enforcement, but the issue was never settled.The Daily Advertiser reported: "Calls about the case made by this newspaper in September, first to theTexas Attorney General's Office, then to Louisiana courts, brought similar responses from both places: Clay Higgins was not in trouble with the courts in either state over the child support payments."[84]
In August 2021, Higgins challenged a critic from Alaska who had called him a "traitor" for votingagainst certifying the2020 election results to a physical fight in aring, saying that he would be in Alaska in 2022; the challenge was accepted but no fight took place.[88]
Higgins is aProtestant.[89]
Our Reserve Deputies are part time, non-salaried, fully-commissioned law enforcement officers. Reserve Deputies have the same responsibilities, the same duties, and receive the same level of training and, most importantly, they have the same authority as their regularly employed counterparts. Opportunities exist within the Reserve organization for individuals to serve in all areas of law enforcement.
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Resources from Wikiversity| U.S. House of Representatives | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of theU.S. House of Representatives fromLouisiana's 3rd congressional district 2017–present | Incumbent |
| U.S. order of precedence (ceremonial) | ||
| Preceded by | United States representatives by seniority 169th | Succeeded by |
