Richard Phillip Edmonds Jr. (born September 12, 1956), is an American pastor and politician from the U.S. state of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. A Republican, he is a member of the

Louisiana Senate The Louisiana State Senate (; ) is the upper house of Louisiana’s legislature. Senators serve four-year terms and participate in various committees. Composition The Louisiana State Senate has 39 members elected from single-member districts ...

from

East Baton Rouge Parish East Baton Rouge Parish (; ) is the most populous List of parishes in Louisiana, parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. Its population was 456,781 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The county seat, parish seat is Baton Rouge, Louis ...

. He previously served in the

Louisiana House of Representatives The Louisiana House of Representatives (; ) is the lower house in the Louisiana State Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Louisiana. This chamber is composed of 105 representatives, each of whom represents approximately 4 ...

and was among nine candidates for secretary of state in the 2018

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, or a bypoll in India, is an election used to fill an office that has become vacant between general elections. A vacancy may arise as a result of an incumben ...

to fill the seat vacated by

Tom Schedler John Thomas Schedler is the former Secretary of State of Louisiana. He resigned in 2018 after sexual harassment accusations were made against him. In February 2019, he sued the State of Louisiana wanting to be reimbursed attorneys fees and cost ...

. Edmonds finished in fourth place in the race with 164,949 (11 percent). His House colleague, Julie Stokes of

Jefferson Parish Jefferson Parish () is a parish in the U.S. state of Louisiana. As of the 2020 census, the population was 440,781. Its parish seat is Gretna, its largest community is Metairie, and its largest incorporated city is Kenner. Jefferson Parish i ...

, finished in fifth place, also with 11 percent of the ballots cast. In a runoff election in December, victory went to the Republican interim secretary Kyle Ardoin. In the 2015 House election, Edmonds unseated a fellow Republican, the moderate Darrell Ourso. Edmonds is a former pastor of the Calvary

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

Church in

Shreveport Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the List of municipalities in Louisiana, third-most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Baton Rouge. The bulk of Shreveport is in Caddo Parish, Lo ...

and a former figure in the Louisiana Family Forum. He lives in

Baton Rouge Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

and is currently Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of McComb.

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1956 births Living people Republican Party Louisiana state senators Republican Party members of the Louisiana House of Representatives 21st-century members of the Louisiana State Legislature 21st-century Baptist ministers from the United States People from Baton Rouge, Louisiana People from Shreveport, Louisiana Baptists from Louisiana {{Louisiana-politician-stub