Boustany makes Senate candidacy official

LAFAYETTE – The man who represents St. Mary Parish in Congress made it official Monday night. He wants to represent all of Louisiana in the U.S. Senate.
U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, R-Lafayette, pledged to offer conservative leadership and to protect key south Louisiana industries as he joined a 2016 Senate campaign field that already has two Republican candidates and may attract more.
Boustany described himself as a “conservative problem-solver who can also get results.”
He said his accomplishments include fighting against unfair trade practices that allow cheap seafood into the country to compete against Louisiana products; blocking burdensome taxes on the oil and gas industry; fighting for hurricane aid and protecting money that should go to maintain the nation’s ports; and pushing for new Veterans Administration clinics in Lafayette and Lake Charles.
Boustany also struck a combative stance toward the Obama administration.
“The president’s weak and listless leadership has emboldened our enemies and shaken the confidence, the confidence of our allies who have always stood with us,” Boustany said.
Boustany, a retired cardio-thoracic surgeon, has been elected the House six times beginning in 2004. He recently won the chairmanship of a tax policy subcommittee of the powerful tax-writing Ways & Means Committee.
He faces challenges from fellow Republican congressman John Fleming of Shreveport and retired Air Force officer Rob Maness. Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle of Breaux Bridge and Louisiana Treasurer John Kennedy of Madisonville have also surfaced as possible Republican challengers for the Senate seat that will be open when incumbent David Vitter steps down after his term expires in early 2017, although neither has announced his candidacy.
On the Democratic side, only New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu has been put forward as a candidate, and he says he’s not running.