[ad_1]
The death of Louisiana’s incoming Republican member of the US House of Representatives from complications related to Covid-19 has stunned political circles in the state.
Luke Letlow, who was 41 years old and had no known underlying health conditions, died Tuesday night at Ochsner-LSU Health Shreveport, days before he was scheduled to take office, according to his spokesman Andrew Bautsch.
Mr. Bautsch requested privacy for Mr. Letlow’s family “during this difficult and unexpected time.”
US Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, a doctor who tested positive for coronavirus earlier this year and has since recovered, seemed almost speechless in a Twitter video he posted Tuesday night about Letlow’s death.
He paused for a moment, before saying, “Just, just, just, just bring home that Covid can kill. For most people it doesn’t, but it really can. So when you remember Luke, your widow, your children in your prayers, remember to also watch out for Covid. “
Just weeks after Letlow’s election, state officials on Wednesday began discussing the logistics for a special election to fill the post again.
The eight-member Congressional delegation from Louisiana called Letlow’s death devastating. As condolences rolled in, many officials expressed shock and focused on the death toll from the pandemic.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi opened her weekly press conference on Capitol Hill by expressing “great sympathy” to the family of the congressman-elect and pushing for greater efforts to end the pandemic.
The Democratic leader said Letlow’s Covid-related death could “happen to anyone, and it has happened to nearly 350,000 Americans.”
“Many of those deaths could have been prevented,” he said.
Pelosi added: “We must make sure that we are scientists and we are determined to squash the virus.”
Louisiana State House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, a Republican, issued a statement lamenting Letlow’s death and saying, “This pandemic is real and it has taken too many of our loved ones. Too many husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, fathers and mothers, daughters and sons ”.
Gov. John Bel Edwards intends to call a special March election for the congressional seat, according to his spokeswoman, Christina Stephens.
Precautions
Letlow was admitted to Monroe Hospital on December 19 after testing positive for coronavirus. He was later transferred to the Shreveport facility and placed in intensive care.
LSU Health Shreveport’s Dr. GE Ghali said Letlow did not have any underlying health conditions that would have put him at higher risk of developing Covid-19 complications.
The congressman-elect had been inconsistent in his precautions against the coronavirus, although he acknowledged the severity of Covid-19 and said in a debate that he personally knew people who had died from the disease.
Photographs posted on social media from campaign events showed Letlow sometimes wear a mask when interacting with potential voters, but at other times, even at her victory party, without covering her face while posing for photos with her followers. .
From the small town of Start in Richland Parish, Mr. Letlow was elected in a December runoff to the sprawling seat of the U.S. House of Representatives from the fifth district representing the central and northeast regions of the United States. state, including the cities of Monroe and Alexandria.
He would have been sworn in next week.
Letlow was to fill the job vacated by his boss, Republican Ralph Abraham. He had been Abraham’s chief of staff and had run with his endorsement for the position.
“There are no words for this loss,” Abraham posted on Facebook. “There was no one like Luke Letlow, and no one loved this state and its people more. Luke was part of our family and we are incredibly proud of the man he was. “
Before working for Abraham, Letlow had worked for the administration of former Governor Bobby Jindal.
Letlow is one of more than 7,000 people in Louisiana who have died of Covid-19 since March, according to data from the state health department.
Other Louisiana officials who have contracted the virus since the pandemic began include Cassidy, Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser, Attorney General Jeff Landry, Treasurer John Schroder, and members of the United States House of Representatives Mike Johnson and Cedric Richmond.
Letlow is survived by his wife, Julia Barnhill Letlow, and two children. – AP
[ad_2]