WASHINGTON – The U.S. House voted Tuesday to name Post Office in Rayville after Luke Letlow, who was elected to Congress in 2020 and died of COVID five days before he was to be sworn in to office.
His widow, Julia Letlow, was elected three months later to take his place representing the sprawling 5th Congressional District, which stretches from Monroe to Alexandria to Bogalusa.
“His passion was public service,” said Rep. Julia Letlow, R-Start. “Luke was the kind of person who would meet a stranger and a few minutes later could walk away having established an enduring friendship.”
He was well-known in Louisiana’s Republican community, having worked in Gov. Bobby Jindal’s office and as chief of staff for Rep. Ralph Abraham during the six years Abraham represented the 5th Congressional District. When Abraham ran for governor, Letlow decided to run for Congress.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, the Jefferson Republican who sponsored the naming legislation, said he met Letlow when Letlow joined Jindal's gubernatorial campaign. When Jindal became governor in 2008, Letlow handled intergovernmental affairs for the governor’s office.
Scalise recalled that his last conversation with Letlow was about possible committee assignments for the recently elected congressman.
“There was no greater ambassador of Louisiana culture and values,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-Benton. “He had a peaceful, easygoing nature, everybody loved him. Whoever held his attention was the most important person in the world at that moment. Luke listened first, then acted – a quality this town (Washington, D.C.) could use a lot more of.”
Rayville is town of about 3,000 in the country outside Monroe. It’s the seat of Richland Parish, where eight generations of the Letlow family have lived.
The post office building that would bear Letlow’s name was constructed as part of the New Deal in 1937 using federal funds. The simple, one-story building includes a mural painted in 1939 by Elsie Driggs called “LaSalle’s Quest for the Mississippi.”
Generally, naming bills don’t engender much opposition in what otherwise is a fractious House. Moments before the Letlow vote, the House approved naming a post office in suburban Virginia after Madeline Albright, who served as secretary of state under President Bill Clinton. The resolution passed on a vote of 371-to-28, with 27 Republicans voting no.
The House voted 401-0 to name the Rayville Post Office after Luke Letlow.
His widow recalled that her late husband loved to research history and landmarks in Richland and adjoining parishes.
“I hope that one day another history-loving Richland kid will see that post office and learn about Luke’s story," she said, fighting off tears. "I hope they’ll learn about how his journey took him from the back roads of small-town northeast Louisiana to the corridors of the U.S. Capitol in Washington.”