Just three years after his release from federal prison, former Gov. Edwin Edwards is throwing his hat into the open race for Louisiana's 6th Congressional District. 
 
 The 86-year-old Silver Fox, known for his memorable, often shocking quotes and the nearly nine years spent behind bars on extortion, fraud and racketeering charges, made the announcement at a meeting of the Press Club of Baton Rouge on Monday (March 17). 
 
 "I acknowledge there are good reasons I should not run. But there are better reasons why I should," said the Democrat, who served an unprecedented four terms as governor. He also put to rest questions over whether his status as an ex-con would keep him from being a qualified Congressional candidate: "Once and for all I'm positive I can run and I'm confident I can win." 
 
 Edwards said the decision was not an easy one, but he ended up where he was "because I feel, I feel, that I can accomplish something if not immediately then in the long-run to help make my country a better country and properly address the needs of the 6th District." 
 
 It also wasn't the only race he grappled with entering, Edwards said Monday, making it clear he was at one point deciding whether to challenge U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, a fellow Democrat, for her seat. The 6th District seat will be vacant this year because U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, is challenging Landrieu. 
 
 "She's running her race and I'm running mine," said Edwards. Famously, there is no love lost between the two Democrats. But pundits agree the presence of each of their powerful campaign machines in Louisiana come November will be mutually beneficial for both. 
 
 
 
 "I'd like to run for governor, but there seems to be some question about whether I could," Edwards added. Louisiana law bars convicted felons from running for statewide office for 15 years, unless they receive a pardon. Edwards would be 101 by that time. 
 
 The Marksville native and arguably Louisiana's most famous Cajun told the assembled press and public Monday that he hopes to serve on the public works and agriculture committees in Congress to address oil and gas industry and infrastructure concerns pertinent to Louisiana. 
 
 On issues, he said he favors the approval of the controversial Keystone XL Pipeline and would like to spur along a study to look at securing funds for high-speed rail between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. He also said he's also been in touch with another famous Cajun -- Lt. Gen. Russel Honore -- to discuss his Green Army's environmental concerns regarding Baton Rouge's aquifer. 
 
 On the Affordable Care Act, Edwards said he would not have voted it if he had been in Congress at that time because "it is too fraught with pitfalls." 
 
 "(But) it is the law and we're going to have to deal with it at least until Obama is out of office," he added. Edwards did say, however, that he is in favor of the Medicaid expansion option available under the federal health care law known as Obamacare. 
 
 "I'm going to work in Congress in an effort to try to override the governor's decision," Edwards said, referring to Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal's staunch refusal to opt into the expansion, under which around 242,000 uninsured Louisianians would be covered. 
 
 
 
 <a href="http://polldaddy.com/poll/7887466/">Will you vote for Edwin Edwards or support his campaign now that he's announced his run for Louisiana Congressional 6th District?</a> 
 
 At one point, a member of the audience asked how he would respond to opponents who say his run will engender negative national attention and be "an embarrassment" for the state. 
 
 "They said that last time I ran for governor, and I don't know, I hardly think it is an embarrassment to the state. It might be something the state should be proud of because forgiveness, understanding and second chances are important in life and in politics," said Edwards. 
 
 Edwards also discussed the more than eight years he spent in federal prison; as he has in the past, he denied wrongdoing during his years as governor: "(The trial) was not about Edwin Edwards the governor. It was about Edwin Edwards who was a friend of the people, who for reasons of their own testified falsely about our relationship after I was out of office." 
 
 The Monday announcement did not come as a surprise, as rumors of his purported run began swirling months earlier. 
 
 Edwards chances of winning in the heavily Republican district are slim, demographers and pollsters agree. But they don't deny he could make it into a runoff based solely on name recognition. The 6th District was redrawn in 2011, its odd horseshoe shape encompassing parts of southeast Louisiana from Baker, through East Baton Rouge and Ascension Parishes and down to the Houma-Thibodaux area. 
 
 The field is already bloated with more than 10 Republican candidates, including a state senator and a former coastal adviser to Jindal, having already officially announced their intentions to run, with more expected to jump on in coming months. Edwards filed his candidacy papers Friday, he said, and he's already chosen a treasurer but not a campaign manager. 
 
 Edwards' sixty year political career began in 1954, when he was elected to the Crowley City Council. He also served in the state Legislature and Congress. He has become a particularly divisive political figure in Louisiana, famous for his populist leanings and larger-than-life persona, infamous for being found guilty on 17 counts of bribery, extortion and fraud charges in 2000. 
 
 He spent more than eight years in federal prison, where he became acquainted by mail with Trina Scott, a registered Republican 50 years his junior. She and Edwards were married soon after his release in 2011, and the two starred in an ill-fated reality TV show last year. 
 
 Trina sat patiently with their 1-year-old son Eli during Edwards' speech Monday. The former governor said he and Trina made the decision he would definitely run about a week ago, adding, "no office in the world would attract me if it means separating from my child, my children and my wife." 
 
 Edwards has two other sons, Stephen and David, and two daughters, Victoria and Anna, from his two previous marriages. 
 
 While he spent the bulk of Monday's announcement discussing the issues he'd like to focus on during his campaign, it wasn't bereft of a showing of the characteristic Edwards wit. When asked how he would convince Republicans to vote for him, he said, "I'm going to let Trina talk to them." 
 
 One reporter cited a Louisiana Republican Party statement calling Edwards' run part-and-parcel of his "antics" to remain in the spotlight. "My antics?" Edwards asked, "You mean the things that got me elected so many times?" 
 
 "I haven't had this much attention since the trial," Edwards quipped when he took the podium. 
 
 But before he strode away, the inveterate politician in the Cajun Prince had came alive. Employing what some might say is a rather curious Latin turn-of-phrase (considering his checkered past) he asked for the support of those who love him and the reconsidering of those who don't. 
 
 "'Alea iacta est.' The die is cast. And I hope you will join with me in making this district a better district, because we have that potential." 
 
 
 
 . . . . . . Lauren McGaughy is a state politics reporter based in Baton Rouge. She can be reached at lmcgaughy@nola.com or on Twitter at @lmcgaughy. Find her latest stories on the Baton Rouge hub's Facebook page. ||||| Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards and his wife, Trina, arrive with their son, Eli, at a Baton Rouge news conference, where Edwards announced his comeback bid for Congress. (Sean Gardner / Getty Images / ) 
 
 He has served in prison, starred in a short-lived reality TV show and delivered enough quotable quips to fill a bookshelf in the public library. 
 
 Now, in his latest exhibition of life as political performance art, Edwin Edwards — former Louisiana governor, convicted racketeer, celebrated womanizer and, at age 86, new father — announced Monday he would be a candidate for Congress. 
 
 "I've given a great deal of thought to this ... and I acknowledge that there are good reasons why I should not run ... but there are better reasons why I should," Edwards told reporters in Baton Rouge, La. "I am positive I can run, and I am confident I can win." 
 
 When last seen on the national stage, Edwards was co-starring in "The Governor’s Wife," an A&E; series focused on his pen-pal-turned-bride No. 3, Trina Scott. Their son, Eli, was born in August, and Edwards, accompanied by his wife, arrived at Monday’s announcement pushing the boy in a stroller. 
 
 The former four-term Democratic governor served more than eight years in federal prison for fraud, racketeering and extortion in connection with the state's licensing of riverboat casinos. He left prison in 2011 and has steadily maintained his innocence — though he pointed out Monday that nothing in the Constitution prevents a convicted felon from being elected to Congress. 
 
 Part of a long line of populist, picaresque Louisiana governors, Edwards himself made a reference to his checkered past. "I haven't had this much attention since the trial," he told reporters in making his announcement. 
 
 He said improving accessibility to healthcare would be a centerpiece of his congressional campaign. He criticized the state’s Republican governor, Bobby Jindal, for refusing to accept expanded Medicaid coverage under the federal Affordable Care Act, more widely known as Obamacare. 
 
 Edwards served three terms as a congressman before running for governor in 1971. He served two terms in the statehouse in the 1970s and, after a four-year break, was again elected in 1983. During that term, he was acquitted of federal corruption charges but his image was badly tainted. Still, he managed a comeback for a fourth term in 1991, beating Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. The campaign’s indelible bumper sticker read: "Vote for the crook — it's important." 
 
 The congressional seat that Edwards is pursuing is being vacated by Republican Bill Cassidy, who is running for Senate against incumbent Democrat Mary L. Landrieu. The district is centered in Baton Rouge, the state capital, extending south into coastal Louisiana. It leans strongly toward the GOP and several Republicans have already announced their designs on the seat. 
 
 David Wasserman, who analyzes congressional races for the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, described Edward’s candidacy as "more of a side show than a legitimate threat, particularly after redistricting cut out all the African American neighborhoods in Baton Rouge. ... A Republican will eventually win this seat." 
 
 Even if it is a sideshow, Edwards’ campaign will presumably run longer than "The Governor’s Wife." The reality series was canceled last fall after just three episodes. 
 
 mark.barabak@latimes.com 
 
 Twitter: @markzbarabak ||||| BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter announced in a Tuesday email to supporters that he will be a candidate in Louisiana's 2015 governor's race. 
 
 FILE - In this Nov. 2, 2010 file photo, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., speaks during an election night party in Kenner, La., after defeating Rep. Charlie Melancon, D-La., for a second term in office. Vitter... (Associated Press) 
 
 FILE - In this Sept. 30, 2013 file photo, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., speaks to reporters regarding the Affordable Health Care Act at the Capitol in Washington. Listening are from left, Sen. Mike Enzi,... (Associated Press) 
 
 "I believe that as our next Governor, I can have a bigger impact addressing the unique challenges and opportunities we face in Louisiana," the senator said in an email first obtained by The Associated Press from a member of Vitter's staff. 
 
 Vitter's announcement ends months of speculation about his intentions, and his decision is expected to influence which other potential candidates enter the race. 
 
 Gov. Bobby Jindal is term-limited, so the race is wide open. Vitter can run without forfeiting his Senate seat, which isn't up for re-election until 2016. 
 
 Vitter said that as governor, he would push for excellence in education, budget stability, tax and spending reform, and government accountability. 
 
 "This will be my last political job, elected or appointed, period. So my only agenda will be to do what's best for all Louisianians, from our best and brightest to our most vulnerable," he said in the email. 
 
 Others who have said they will run for governor include: Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne and state Rep. John Bel Edwards, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. State GOP Treasurer John Kennedy has said he is considering entering the race. 
 
 Vitter has proved to be a resilient politician, holding elected office for more than two decades as a state and federal lawmaker and easily winning re-election to a second U.S. Senate term in 2010, despite ties to a prostitution scandal. 
 
 Vitter admitted to a "serious sin" after phone records linked him to Washington's "D.C. Madam" prostitution case in 2007. He hasn't commented further on whether he broke the law, instead saying his family had forgiven him and moved past it.
– Former Louisiana Gov. Edwin Edwards has decided that neither age—nor his status as an ex-con—is a barrier to a run for Congress. The 86-year-old Democrat, who was released from federal prison in 2011 after serving eight years on fraud and racketeering charges, has entered the race for the state's 6th congressional district and says he's convinced he can win, the Times-Picayune reports. The four-term governor has always maintained his innocence on fraud charges connected to state licensing of riverboat casinos, the Los Angeles Times notes. "I acknowledge there are good reasons I should not run. But there are better reasons why I should," said Edwards, who starred in a reality TV show after getting out of prison. He says he'd really like to run for governor again, but because of his conviction, state law bans him from doing so until he's 101 years old. Analysts say that while Edwards certainly has name recognition on his side, he will struggle to make headway in the heavily Republican district centered on Baton Rouge. "This changes the race. It’s sure to stir up some notoriety ... but I don’t think he has a chance of winning," a political scientist tells the Baton Rouge Advocate.