In 1997, Charles “Trey” Thomas was starting out as a freshman at LSU, where he was awarded an academic scholarship and recruited for his skills on the football field. For the next four years, Thomas would step into Death Valley on gamedays as a proud member of the LSU Tigers football team. Now, 17 years later, Thomas plans to enter a new battlefield entirely — the race for Louisiana’s sixth congressional district.
However, Thomas views the worlds of politics and sports as not all that different.
“We aren’t playing very well together as a team,” Thomas said. “I know that, just as all the possibilities of us being a great team at LSU revolved around how well we played as a unit week in and week out, definitely the same dynamics are at play for us as a country.”
Thomas, one of two African-Americans in the race, is the only black Republican running — a rare distinction considering the current party demographics of the country.
According to a Gallup poll from last year, only 5 percent ofAfrican-Americans identify as Republican.
Thomas said party labels are less important than the personal values and ideologies of voters, and he claimed African-American political views were less liberal than they might seem.
“By and large, especially in the South, more black people are conservative in their thinking,” Thomas said. “Our issue is not a misalignment in the values and platform; it’s a brand issue.”
Thomas said the lack of black Republicans in America could be because of the GOP’s failure to create a “positive brand to attract black voters,” but he also said the statistics could reflect Democrats’ attempt to “keep a loyal voting base.”
“The Republican party has to make sure it’s not adding fuel to their fire by missing obvious ways to outreach and bring in other voters of other races and backgrounds. I think there’s a genuine effort now to try to make sure that happens,” Thomas said.
Thomas is the executive director of the Family Values Resource Institute in Baton Rouge, a nonprofit organization founded by his parents more than two decades ago.
Thomas said the FVRI, which was originally founded as a crisis emergency center, now features an adult learning center that offers a GED program.
Thomas acknowledged he dealt with the issue of education frequently in his professional life, and he said he views education as “the great equalizer in terms of opportunity.”
“The more effectively that we’re able to provide educational options for parents and their children — that is the first and foremost effort to help right the wrongs in society or economics,” Thomas said.
Thomas also said he values the many skills imparted outside the classroom by his coaches while at LSU, especially the mental and physical “toughness” demanded by Nick Saban in his senior year.
“A lot of those things, even though you think of them in the realm of sports, they definitely apply to any other challenge you face in life. Even if it involves debating or working behind a desk, you’re still going to encounter the need to be tough,” Thomas said.
Thomas said there are several state concerns he plans to address if elected, but he ultimately stated one of the Louisiana’s biggest problems is its “image issue.”
Thomas, who has lived in Texas and New York, noted former governor Edwin Edwards’ recent joining of the congressional race as a negative reflection of the state.
“When people found out you’re from Louisiana, they have a certain image already about what Louisiana is, how Louisiana is and what goes on in Louisiana,” Thomas said.
Though Thomas acknowledged some of his fellow candidates, such as Edwards and Paul Dietzel II, were more well-known in the district, he stressed that name recognition was not a prerequisite for a viable candidate.
“Name recognition doesn’t mean you’ll be a great candidate or a great leader,” Thomas said.
“I know that, just as all the possibilities of us being a great team at LSU revolved around how well we played as a unit week in and week out, definitely the same dynamics are at play for us as a country.”

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