Friday, July 11, is the Louisiana deadline for filing for Congress, both for candidates running in party primaries, and for independent candidates. The U.S. Senate race will have five candidates on the November ballot: Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu, a Republican (whoever wins the September primary, John Kennedy or Jacques Boudreax), Libertarian Richard Fontanesi, independent Robert Stewart, and independent Jay Patel.

Fontanesi will be the first U.S. Senate candidate (other than Democrats and Republicans) with a party label next to his name on the November ballot, since 1972, when the American Party was a qualified party and ran Hall Lyons. The Louisiana definition of “political party” was substantially eased in 2004, but it didn’t take effect until 2005. There was no U.S. Senate election in Louisiana in 2006. Fontanesi was a Libertarian candidate for U.S. House in 2006, and polled 17.2% in a race with only one major party contender.