Kate Cotten

Kate Cotten started working in her father's restaurant at 12, spending thirteen years in the family business.¹ Her father opened the first Cotten's in 1982, shortly after her birth.¹ She attended McNeese and later opened her own Cotten's Downtown in Lake Charles in November 2014, in the former Mary Ann's Café space.¹

She retained the former café's tradition of serving breakfast as well as burgers.¹ By January 2026, she had expanded into the former Subway space next door, adding an ice cream parlor to the diner.² In an October election interview, she pointed to the cost of imported shrimp compared with Gulf shrimp as an example of an economy she thinks favors larger interests over small businesses.³

Cotten says she has been a Republican since registering to vote at 18 and entered the congressional race to give Republican voters an alternative to Clay Higgins.³ She qualified on the final day but told the publication she was not actively campaigning.³ Democratic opponent John Day is a friend whose campaign sign appears in her restaurant window.³

The field also includes Democrats Caleb Walker and Priscilla Gonzalez and Tia LeBrun.⁴ LeBrun is listed with no party affiliation.⁵ Cotten questions the environmental costs of industrial development in southwestern Louisiana and says she would hold town halls to hear constituents' priorities before establishing her own Washington agenda.³