NEW ORLEANS — Luke Letlow, who was elected in early December to Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District in place of Ralph Abraham, has died of COVID-19 at the age of 41.
According to sources at The New Orleans Advocate | Times Picayune, Letlow was brought to a Monroe hospital December 19 with symptoms of COVID. He was transported to Shreveport and admitted to the ICU where he died from complications of COVID.
Luke Letlow leaves behind a wife and two small children.
A statement made to The New Orleans Advocate | Times Picayune reads:
“The family appreciates the numerous prayers and support over the past days but asks for privacy during this difficult and unexpected time,” Letlow's spokesman Andrew Bautsch said. “A statement from the family along with funeral arrangements will be announced at a later time.”
Letlow would have been Louisiana’s youngest congressman.
Governor John Bel Edwards made a statement on Letlow's passing:
“It is with heavy hearts that Donna and I offer our condolences to Congressman-elect Luke Letlow’s family on his passing after a battle with COVID-19. Congressman-elect Letlow felt a calling from a young age to serve the people of his home state, working behind the scenes for former Governor Bobby Jindal and serving as chief of staff to Congressman Ralph Abraham, who he was recently elected to succeed. COVID-19 has taken Congressman-elect Letlow from us far too soon. I am heartbroken that he will not be able to serve our people as a U.S. Representative, but I am even more devastated for his loving family. I hope all of the people of Louisiana will join Donna and me in praying for Congressman-elect Letlow’s family, especially his wife Julia and their two children, his many friends and the people of the 5th Congressional District. Louisiana has lost more than 7,300 people to COVID-19 since March, and each one of them leaves a tremendous hole in our state.”
