U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond is not endorsing Adrian Perkins in the Senate race. He explains why

Adrian Perkins has garnered endorsements from an impressive list of Democratic bigwigs in his campaign to unseat U.S. Sen. Bill Cassidy, a Republican.

Perkins, who is Shreveport’s mayor, has the support of former President Barack Obama, Sen. Kamala Harris of California, the party’s vice presidential nominee, Gov. John Bel Edwards, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the Louisiana Democratic Party and the Orleans Parish Democratic Party, among others.

But U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, the sole Democrat in Louisiana’s eight-member congressional delegation, is an outlier, and that’s causing lots of private grumbling among Democrats.

Richmond has endorsed Derrick Edwards, a Jefferson Parish-based attorney and perennial candidate who has yet to raise a dollar for his Senate campaign, according to his latest campaign filing.

Two Republicans, two independents, fellow Democrat try to unseat incumbent who has collected at least 64% of vote in each election

Perkins has raised more than $2 million, according to his campaign. He is a West Point grad who served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, graduated from Harvard Law School and was elected Shreveport’s mayor in 2018. While Cassidy remains a heavy favorite, Perkins’ impressive resume has sparked hope among Democrats that he could pull off a big upset.

Richmond said he is backing Edwards because they grew up together in New Orleans East and remain friends. Richmond said he even attended the high school football game when Edwards was so severely injured that he became a quadriplegic.

“I’ve watched Derrick overcome being paralyzed, go to college and become a lawyer,” Richmond said. “You have to respect the hard work he has put in.”

He added that the endorsement for Edwards was “not a knock on any of the other candidates,” saying he had promised Edwards his support before Perkins announced his candidacy in late July. “I decided I would keep my commitment.”

The Perkins campaign tried to take the news in stride, saying in a statement: “We’re looking forward to working hand-in-hand with Congressman Richmond, Derrick Edwards and all of the other candidates and their supporters to defeat Bill Cassidy in the runoff this December.”

Richmond’s support for Edwards became public when he sent out his list of endorsed candidates Tuesday in a text message and a mailer to voters in New Orleans.

“We were surprised to see that,” said state Rep. Mandie Landry, D-New Orleans. “By we, I mean everyone.”

U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond was in Philadelphia with Joe Biden in April 2019 when Biden announced his campaign for president.

Perkins, she said, “is a superstar and will go far in life.”

She called Richmond’s endorsement “pretty shocking. I don’t know why.”

The Louisiana Democratic Party didn’t want to address Richmond’s endorsement, saying only in an email that Perkins is “an exemplary Senate candidate who we are proud to stand behind and will be proud to send to Washington.”

Derrick Edwards, who has a reputation for not liking to talk to reporters, did not return two phone calls Wednesday to discuss Richmond’s endorsement.

Edwards has made failed runs for the U.S. Senate in 2016, to be state treasurer in 2017 and again to be treasurer in 2019.

Edwards won 3% of the vote in the 2016 Senate race, finishing eighth.

He did capture 31% and 35% of the vote in his treasury campaigns, but he was the only Democratic candidate each time.