• By ALLEN M. JOHNSON JR.
• Advocate New Orleans bureau
• Published: Aug 27, 2008 - Page: 12A - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

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COVINGTON — First Congressional District candidate James K. “Jim” Harlan, 56, a Democrat making his first run for office in one of Louisiana’s most Republican and conservative districts, said he’s “pro gun,” “pro life” and “pro Obama.”

Harlan, a political unknown and longtime resident of St. Tammany Parish, is trying to oust U.S. Rep. Steve Scalise, a popular Republican and former veteran state lawmaker from Metairie.

The general election is Nov. 4, but before that Harlan will have to face another Democrat in the Sept. 6 primary.

Harlan, a Harvard-educated businessman and former White House energy expert making his first run for office, said he is attracted to the “pro-faith,” racial-unity themes of liberal black U.S. Sen. Barack Obama’s Democratic campaign for president.

Early voting for the Sept. 6 party primary began Aug. 23 and continues through Saturday, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. at parish registrar of voters offices. For the first time, early voting hours have been extended, said Jacques Berry, spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office, giving voters an extra 90 minutes. 

Only registered Democrats and independents can vote in the Sept. 6 primary. The winner will face Scalise, the Republican incumbent, in the Nov. 4 general election.

Harlan’s household and companies have contributed $4,500 to Obama’s campaign since Aug. 1, 2007. But the candidate said he won’t try and sway residents of the Republican stronghold. Instead, Harlan plans to focus on unseating Scalise.

“I’m going to win this race,” Harlan said Saturday, seated at the kitchen table of his Covington home.

Political experts express doubts.

Hunched over coffee in a New Orleans restaurant last week, veteran political consultant Allan Katz, 70, considered the odds. “This guy has no chance,” Katz, a political analyst for WVUE-TV/Fox8, said of Harlan.

Scalise was elected May 3 to fill the unexpired 1st Congressional District term of Gov. Bobby Jindal.

The 1st District — which includes all of the parishes of St. Tammany, Washington and Tangipahoa, most of Jefferson and small portions of St. Charles and Orleans — has been a GOP stronghold since 1977.

Before Scalise and Jindal, fellow Republican conservatives David Vitter and Bob Livingston, respectively, represented the increasingly suburban district of New Orleans. Moreover, Harlan, a native New Orleanian, is a longtime resident of St. Tammany Parish, and no one living on the North Shore has won the 1st District seat.