Former Gov. Edwin Edwards To Run For Congress

Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards announced at the Baton Rouge Press Club he will run for Congress this fall in the state's 6th District.

The 86-year-old Edwards puts to bed months of speculation about his political future and raised new questions as to whether or not he could win in this deeply conservative state.

The four-term governor served nearly a decade in federal prison for an extortion and bribery scandal dealing with the state's riverboat casino licenses.

KATC-TV 3 reported Edwards would not have voted for President Barack Obama's controversial Affordable Care Act, and he will work to make it better, but he also disagreed on Gov. Bobby Jindal's stance on the Medicaid expansion provided by the healthcare law. Edwards would work to override Jindal's decision, the television station reported.

State Republicans were quick to criticize the move saying in a statement shortly after his announcement that "after failing to recruit credible candidates for multiple election cycles, the Louisiana Democratic Party finally landed a notable candidate for public office. Unfortunately, Edwin Edwards is known for all the wrong reasons. His antics may be fit for a reality show, but not public office."

"The days of Huey Long and Edwards style politics are behind us," the Republican statement continued. "Gov. Edwards is the poster child for the ‘good ‘ole boy’ way of doing things."

Edwards will face challengers in Richard Lieberman, a Democrat, as well as Republicans Garret Graves, Craig McCulloch, Charles Thomas, Cassie Felder, state Sen. Dan Claitor, and Paul Dietzel II.

Edwards was last elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1960s. He served three terms and the ran for governor in 1971.