Michael Echols
RChallengerFEC H6LA05242
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Raised this cycle$3.2M
Cash on hand: $889K
2026 race
LA-05 — U.S. House
8 candidates on the November ballot. No incumbent on the FEC's 2026 roster — see note below.
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Currently held by
Julia Letlow (R) — not on the FEC's 2026 candidate roster — may not be seeking re-election. That's why this race shows no incumbent.
Election held
Counting
Tuesday, November 3, 2026
Results appear here once a race is called and verified. Official returns from the Louisiana Secretary of State.
Make sure you can vote
Disclosed money in race
$4.8M
Candidate + outside spending. See finance breakdown below.
Candidates
Sorted by fundraising
Misti Cordell
RChallengerFEC H6LA05200
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Raised this cycle$659K
Cash on hand: $200K
Gabe Firment
RChallengerFEC H6LA05317
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Raised this cycle$454K
Cash on hand: $63K
Stewart Cathey Jr.
RChallengerFEC H6LA05184
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Raised this cycle$246K
Cash on hand: $98K
Dan McKay
DChallengerFEC H6LA05291
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Raised this cycle$121K
Cash on hand: $5K
Patricia "Pat" Moore
DChallengerFEC H6LA05341
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Raised this cycle$23K
Cash on hand: $4K
Austin Magee
RChallengerFEC H6LA05283
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Raised this cycle$11K
Cash on hand: $180
Oscar "Omar" Dantzler
RChallengerFEC H2LA05282
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Raised this cycle—
Cash on hand: —
Local signal
Early read on LA-05 — U.S. House
A directional read on where this seat is trending, from the signals we have so far. This is an early scaffold — more inputs light up as coverage and constituent activity accrue.
Coverage tone · mixed
Recent news coverage of Julia Letlow over the last 90 days.
2 positive32 neutral2 negative
36 articles · AI-assessed sentiment toward the rep. A media signal, not a poll of the district.
Constituent stakes
No one here has staked a position on a tracked vote yet. As neighbors weigh in on /pressure campaigns, the district's lean will show up here.
Money in the race
Finance breakdown
Disclosed funding shaping this race — both the money candidates raise themselves and the outside spending dropped by independent groups. Issue-ad spending by 501(c)(4) groups is excluded; the FEC doesn't require disclosure of it. See the note below for details.
Candidate fundraising: FEC reports through October 14, 2026 · 2025–26 cycle
Total disclosed
$4.8M
Candidate fundraising + independent expenditures (FEC).
Candidate-direct (Schedule A)
$4.7M
Raised by candidate committees themselves.
Outside spending (Schedule E)
$135K
$135K for · $0 against
| Candidate | Raised directly | Outside for | Outside against | Net in corner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Michael Echols(R) + LOUISIANA GROWTH AND FUTURE FUND $81K + GOPAC ELECTION FUND $19K | $3.2M | $100K | — | $3.3M |
Misti Cordell(R) + CONSERVATIVE LEADERS OF AMERICA $35K | $659K | $35K | — | $694K |
Gabe Firment(R) | $454K | — | — | $454K |
Stewart Cathey Jr.(R) | $246K | — | — | $246K |
Dan McKay(D) | $121K | — | — | $121K |
Patricia "Pat" Moore(D) | $23K | — | — | $23K |
Austin Magee(R) | $11K | — | — | $11K |
Oscar "Omar" Dantzler(R) | $0 | — | — | $0 |
Where the money comes from
In-state vs out-of-state
Share of each candidate's itemized individual contributions from donors inside LA versus the rest of the country. Excludes sub-$200 unitemized donations (no geography on file) and PAC money — see note below.
Michael Echols(R)94% in-state · $542K itemized
$511K in-state$30K out-of-state
Misti Cordell(R)93% in-state · $332K itemized
$308K in-state$24K out-of-state
Gabe Firment(R)92% in-state · $48K itemized
$44K in-state$4K out-of-state
Stewart Cathey Jr.(R)78% in-state · $14K itemized
$11K in-state$3K out-of-state
Dan McKay(D)46% in-state · $25K itemized
$11K in-state$13K out-of-state
Patricia "Pat" Moore(D)50% in-state · $500 itemized
$250 in-state$250 out-of-state
Austin Magee(R)60% in-state · $5K itemized
$3K in-state$2K out-of-state
What's counted, what isn't
Candidate-direct is each campaign's reported receipts on FEC Schedule A — individual contributions plus PAC contributions to the candidate's own committee — through the most recent filing.
Outside spending is independent expenditures on FEC Schedule E: money spent by PACs, super PACs, and party committees for or against a candidate, without legal coordination with the campaign. The committees listed under each candidate are the largest disclosed spenders on either side.
In-state vs out-of-state covers only itemized individual contributions — donations over $200, which are the only ones that carry a contributor address at the FEC. Sub-$200 unitemized donations (often a large share for grassroots campaigns) have no geography on file and are excluded, as is PAC money. So the percentages describe where a candidate's itemized individual money comes from, not where every dollar raised comes from.
Not counted: 501(c)(4) "social welfare" organizations run issue ads that frequently mention candidates by name but aren't classified as express advocacy under FEC rules — they file no Schedule E and don't appear in this breakdown. Press reporting on a race may cite figures that include this dark-money spending; ours doesn't.
Where they stand
Issue-by-issue comparison
Positions extracted from each candidate's campaign issues page by AI. Contested rows — where candidates disagree with each other — appear first.
| Statement | Echols | Cordell | Firment | Cathey | Mckay | Moore | Magee | Dantzler | You |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Healthcare Medicare should be allowed to negotiate lower prescription drug prices. | — | ||||||||
Abortion A national law should protect access to abortion in every state. | — | ||||||||
Agriculture Federal farm subsidies should be reduced and redirected toward smaller producers. | — | ||||||||
Economy Reducing the national debt should be a higher priority than new spending. | — | ||||||||
Economy Tariffs on foreign goods should be used to protect American jobs. | — | ||||||||
Environment Government environmental reviews for energy and infrastructure projects should move faster, even if it means fewer reviews. | — | ||||||||
Environment The government should stop subsidizing oil and gas companies. | — | ||||||||
Foreign Policy The U.S. should spend more on the military. | — | ||||||||
Foreign Policy Conditions on U.S. military aid to Israel — tied to humanitarian or human-rights compliance — should be strengthened. | — | ||||||||
Guns All gun sales — including private ones — should require a background check. | — | ||||||||
Guns Civilian ownership of AR-15-style rifles should be restricted. | — | ||||||||
Guns Federal law should authorize court-issued red-flag orders allowing temporary firearm removal from people deemed a danger. | — | ||||||||
Healthcare Federal enforcement of mental-health insurance parity (equal coverage to medical care) should be strengthened. | — | ||||||||
Immigration People who were brought to the U.S. illegally as children should have a path to citizenship. | — | ||||||||
Immigration The U.S. should do more to enforce immigration laws and secure the border. | — | ||||||||
Governance & Other Voters should be required to show photo ID, with the same rule in every state. | — | ||||||||
Trade U.S. trade policy should reduce economic interdependence with China, especially on technology and critical minerals. | — |
SupportsOpposesNo public positionRinged = confirmed by the campaign
Recent coverage
In the news
Michael Echols
- See which two candidates are going to a runoff in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional DistrictThe Times-PicayuneNov 4
- Control of Congress, unexpectedly tight Senate race: What to know on Election Day in LouisianaThe Times-PicayuneNov 3
- Roundtable: With midterms looming, our columnists look at changes ahead for Louisiana’s delegation in CongressThe Times-PicayuneOct 30
- Trump’s name was everywhere in earlier Louisiana elections. What about this time?The Times-PicayuneOct 27
Misti Cordell
- See which two candidates are going to a runoff in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional DistrictThe Times-PicayuneNov 4
- Control of Congress, unexpectedly tight Senate race: What to know on Election Day in LouisianaThe Times-PicayuneNov 3
- Roundtable: With midterms looming, our columnists look at changes ahead for Louisiana’s delegation in CongressThe Times-PicayuneOct 30
- Trump’s name was everywhere in earlier Louisiana elections. What about this time?The Times-PicayuneOct 27
Gabe Firment
- See which two candidates are going to a runoff in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional DistrictThe Times-PicayuneNov 4
- Control of Congress, unexpectedly tight Senate race: What to know on Election Day in LouisianaThe Times-PicayuneNov 3
- Roundtable: With midterms looming, our columnists look at changes ahead for Louisiana’s delegation in CongressThe Times-PicayuneOct 30
- Trump’s name was everywhere in earlier Louisiana elections. What about this time?The Times-PicayuneOct 27
Stewart Cathey Jr.
- See which two candidates are going to a runoff in Louisiana’s 5th Congressional DistrictThe Times-PicayuneNov 4
- Control of Congress, unexpectedly tight Senate race: What to know on Election Day in LouisianaThe Times-PicayuneNov 3
- Roundtable: With midterms looming, our columnists look at changes ahead for Louisiana’s delegation in CongressThe Times-PicayuneOct 30
- Trump’s name was everywhere in earlier Louisiana elections. What about this time?The Times-PicayuneOct 27
About this race page
Candidate roster is sourced from the FEC's active-candidate list for the 2026 cycle. Fundraising totals reflect committee filings through the last reporting period.
Alignment % compares the candidate's extracted policy positions against your quiz answers. Positions are pulled from the candidate's campaign issues page by AI; we save the source quote for each position so you can verify the extraction. Candidates without a campaign issues page show position data pending — we're working through the roster and re-checking stale extractions every 90 days.
News coverage is from the GDELT 2.0 global news feed, filtered to a curated list of national, political, and regional outlets.