For the last few weeks, I was pretty confident that Randy Fine (R-FL) was the most abhorrent Republican House member. But something unexpected happened when the House voted on the Epstein Files Transparency Act: it passed 427-1. And the lone vote against it came from someone I had barely even heard of. Which raises the question: Who exactly is Clay Higgins (R-LA)?
Clay Higgins – who apparently prefers to be called “Captain Higgins” – has represented Louisiana’s 3rd Congressional District since 2017. Before entering politics, he served in the military police, worked at a car dealership, and later joined law enforcement.
From what I can tell, Higgins has largely avoided the national spotlight in recent years, letting the more flamboyant MAGA personalities dominate the headlines while he quietly voted against legislation that advocates say would expand legal options for victims of child sex trafficking.
His indifference makes sense, given that when Mother Jones investigated him, their conclusion led them to title the story “Clay Higgins Built His Brand on Law and Order. He Pals Around With a Man Guilty of Incest.“
Thankfully, Higgins’ Wikipedia entry provides extensive background information, complete with sources. Let’s start with that.
Clay Higgins’ Early Political Views
In 1991, Higgins supported and voted for his “homeboy” (according to reporting at the time) David Duke, former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, in Duke’s campaign for Governor of Louisiana. At the time, neither Duke’s KKK leadership nor his open sale of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf from his state legislative office appeared to bother Higgins.
It was only Duke’s overwhelming loss that seems to have led Higgins to decide Duke was unfit to win anything beyond local elections. Democrat Edwin Edwards soundly won the election with 61% of the votes versus Duke’s 39%.
In 1992, Duke continued his foray into politics, this time as a presidential candidate. Higgins seems to have learned his lesson, withdrawing support for Duke and backing Pat Buchanan instead. In doing so, he noted that Duke and Buchanan shared many of the same positions, he could no longer support Duke because he was a “Nazi.”
Apparently, Duke’s KKK leadership and fondness for Adolf Hitler were not disqualifying in Higgins’ mind – but Duke’s demonstrated inability to win statewide office was.
Law Enforcement Career
In 2004, Higgins joined the Opelousas City Police Department. It did not take long for controversy to arise: according to departmental reports and media accounts, Higgins was accused of beating a Black man in custody and giving inconsistent statements to investigators. He resigned before disciplinary action was taken.
He later joined the Port Barre Police Department, where he was promoted to captain and served as a public information officer. Reports indicate he was warned about insubordination and unprofessional conduct before resigning from the department. He was also accused of using his public position for financial gain – behavior that would later become common in the MAGA era.
Higgins in Congress
Higgins ran for Congress in 2016 in Louisiana’s 3rd District and won, despite widely reported controversies and allegations of racism and misconduct from critics. He has since been re-elected every two years, typically securing 65–70% of the vote, which says a lot about the political landscape of the district. Not a place I’m going to visit. And I’ll try my best not to even drive through it.
For brevity, I won’t go through Higgins’ congressional voting record. But given his very active presence on Twitter/X, he has made no effort to hide who he is.
Selection of his recent Tweets:
