Congressional candidate arrested after qualifying

BATON ROUGE — A candidate running for Congress was arrested in the Louisiana secretary of state’s office after he qualified for office Friday afternoon.

Billy Burkette, who said he is chairman of the Louisiana Band of Chocktaw Indians, was charged with impersonating an officer.

"They say I'm not chief of police of the Chocktaw tribe," Burkette said as he was led out in handcuffs.

When asked if he was the chief, Burkette, said, "Yes, sir, I am."

He had just qualified to run for the 5th Congressional District seat when officers approached him in the parking lot.

Burkette, Independent-Pride, said he is in the disaster recovery services industry and the seafood business.

He ran for the same seat once before in 2016 and was beaten by incumbent U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Alto, 82 percent to 18 percent.

Burkette is one of three candidates challenging Abraham in this race.

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Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1