A Louisiana congressional race is facing a new controversy after video surfaced showing Republican activist Abby Crosby publicly confronting State Sen. Rick Edmonds with an allegation that he inappropriately touched her at a 2023 political event.
Edmonds strongly denies the allegation, calling Crosby’s account a fabrication.
The confrontation and the allegations surrounding it were first detailed in an investigation published by the Daily Mail, which reported that it obtained video of the September exchange.
Original reporting: Daily Mail, “Churchgoer confronts married Baptist pastor running for Congress with shocking allegation”
https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16199357/rick-edmonds-abby-crosby-louisiana-congress.html
An archived copy of the original report is available here:
https://archive.is/2026.10.11-195641/https://www.dailymail.com/news/article-16199357/rick-edmonds-abby-crosby-louisiana-congress.html
The Confrontation
According to the Daily Mail report, the exchange occurred September 14 during a Livingston Parish Republican Executive Committee endorsement meeting at Carter Plantation in Springfield.
Edmonds, who is running for Louisiana’s 6th Congressional District, was discussing his legislative record and said he had supported measures protecting women.
Crosby then addressed him from the audience.
“Is that why you chose to grope me at an event for Jeff Landry at the Texas Club?” she asked, according to the video and Daily Mail report.
Edmonds immediately denied the accusation and said it was “not even remotely close to any truth.”
Crosby alleged that the incident occurred August 9, 2023, during a campaign event for then-gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry at the Texas Club in Baton Rouge.
She told the Daily Mail that Edmonds approached her from behind, placed his hands around her hips and leaned toward her while making a comment about the pink dress she was wearing.
Edmonds disputes that account.
“I Have Witnesses”
During the recorded confrontation, Crosby told Edmonds that other people witnessed what happened.
“I have witnesses, Sir,” she said.
Edmonds responded by challenging her to produce them, saying he would answer questions about the allegation.
The Daily Mail subsequently interviewed Hollis Day, a friend of Crosby who was at the 2023 event and whom Crosby identified as a witness.
Day's account is significant — but it does not completely match Crosby's description of the incident.
Day told the outlet that he was approximately seven or eight feet away and saw Edmonds stop next to Crosby and put one hand around the side of her hip.
However, Day said the brief contact he witnessed did not appear sexual or inappropriate to him.
Day also could not hear what Edmonds said to Crosby.
He recalled Crosby immediately looking toward him afterward and asking whether he had seen the interaction. He said he told her that he had.
Day therefore corroborated that he saw an interaction involving physical contact, but he did not characterize what he witnessed as sexual or inappropriate and could not verify the alleged remark.
He also told the Daily Mail that he did not see Crosby chase Edmonds afterward, something Crosby said she had done.
Edmonds Denies Allegation
Edmonds has categorically rejected Crosby's version of events.
He told the Daily Mail that his wife was with him throughout the evening at the 2023 Landry event and argued that the behavior Crosby describes would likely have been noticed in a crowded venue containing numerous public officials, politicians and voters.
Day, however, told the outlet that Edmonds' wife was not beside him during the brief interaction he witnessed.
Edmonds has also raised questions about possible political motivations behind the accusation because Crosby and her husband previously supported State Sen. Blake Miguez, one of Edmonds' Republican opponents in the congressional race.
Crosby denies that any candidate or campaign directed her to confront Edmonds.
According to the Daily Mail, Crosby and her husband say they are now supporting another Republican candidate in the race, Larry Davis III.
A Controversy in a Closely Watched Republican Race
The allegation comes during an increasingly competitive Republican battle for Louisiana's newly configured 6th Congressional District.
Edmonds and Miguez are among the Republicans seeking the seat after Louisiana's congressional boundaries were redrawn earlier this year.
The Louisiana Republican Party's executive committee initially endorsed Miguez in August before subsequently endorsing Edmonds as well following criticism of the party's endorsement process.
The confrontation adds another volatile issue to a race that was already becoming increasingly contentious.
There are also important facts that should not be lost in the politics surrounding the allegation.
Crosby has publicly accused Edmonds of inappropriate touching.
Edmonds unequivocally denies the allegation.
A person Crosby identified as a witness told the Daily Mail that he saw Edmonds briefly place a hand near Crosby's hip, but he said the interaction did not appear sexual or inappropriate from his vantage point. He did not hear what was said.
Those distinctions matter.
At this point, the Daily Mail report presents competing accounts of what happened that night in 2023, and the publicly reported evidence does not independently establish Crosby's full allegation as fact.
What voters can see for themselves is the September confrontation in which Crosby directly raised the accusation and Edmonds immediately denied it.
As Louisiana's 6th District campaign moves toward Election Day, voters will ultimately have to decide how much weight — if any — they give the controversy.
Editor's Note: This story is based primarily on original reporting and video obtained by the Daily Mail. Cajun Conservatism has attributed allegations and responses to the individuals and sources involved and does not present disputed allegations as established fact.
