Given the amount of chaos surrounding the last remaining House races that ended up being litigated in court over vote totals and counting, the open House seat in Louisiana would have been easy to forget.

Luke Letlow, after winning his House race in November, died suddenly of a heart attack at the end of December, which has since been attributed to a blood clot caused by his fight against COVID-19. At the time, his tragic passing brought out the ghouls who wanted to dance on his grave for “not taking COVID seriously” before it was even dug. There was no consideration for his widow, Julia Letlow, or their two very young children.

Julia Letlow then decided to run for the House seat herself, and in winning, made a bit of history as the first Republican woman elected from Louisiana.

From tonight forward, I work for you and it is an honor to do so. Thank you, LA-05! pic.twitter.com/zoSheCNwrU

— Julia B Letlow, Ph.D (@jbletlow) March 21, 2021

Letlow, a 40-year-old university administrator who wrote a doctoral dissertation on grief, easily won against 11 other contenders in the race for Louisiana’s 5th Congressional District seat. She is the third woman ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana and the only woman among the state’s current congressional delegation.”

“This is an incredible moment and it is truly hard to put into words,” Letlow said in a statement Saturday night. “What was born out of the terrible tragedy of losing my husband, Luke, has become my mission in his honor to carry the torch and serve the good people of Louisiana’s 5th District.”

Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, was appropriately kind to the new congresswoman-elect.

“Congratulations to Congresswoman-elect Julia Letlow for her victory tonight in Louisiana’s fifth congressional district. I look forward to working with her on behalf of the people of Louisiana at this critical moment for our state and our nation. This is a proud day for Julia, her children, all of her supporters and our state, but it is also a bittersweet day as she wins the seat opened by the passing of her late husband, Luke. I will continue to keep her in my prayers just as she has continued to exemplify strength, determination and tenacity in the wake of a terrible tragedy. I know that these same characteristics that got her through the last few months will make her an excellent advocate for Louisiana in Washington, D.C.”

Julia Letlow will avoid a runoff because she won a majority of the vote, and she now joins a record-breaking number of Republican women currently in the House of Representatives. The previous record number was 30. With Julia Letlow, that number in the 117th Congress now stands at 31 Republican women.

The number of Republican women in the House was even begrudgingly acknowledged by such outlets as NPR and NBC, though they were happy to point out that Democrat women still outnumber the Republican ones. Still, the tone in their pieces – reflecting on the gains by these GOP women – betrays their nervousness. The faces are as diverse as the Democrats would wish for on their side of the aisle. The increasing numbers of Republican women in the House, where the Squad would like to rule unchallenged in their quest for intersectional superiority, must give pause to those looking to hang on to that ever-narrowing Democrat majority in the House. Remember, Nancy Pelosi only became Speaker this time around with two votes to spare, and Republicans were missing some of their votes due to COVID, races uncalled, and death.

The House is by no means a sure thing for Democrats in 2022, and they know it. New faces like Julia Letlow are going to make it much harder for them.

Featured image via Pixabay, cropped, Pixabay license