Zohran Mamdani did it last year. So did Claire Valdez in her recent run for Congress. Some candidates are campaigning after dark to court young voters.

If she reaches the Senate, Ms. Letlow would replace Senator Bill Cassidy and become the first G.O.P. woman to represent Louisiana in the chamber.

A medical team set out from the capital to rescue people in the hardest-hit part of the disaster zone, La Guaira. They found silence in the ruins instead.