Seth Dickerson

sdickerson@gannett.com

Michael "Duke" Lowrie, who announced he will run for Louisiana House of Representatives District 8, said he stands behind a 2015 post on Facebook calling for a boycott of U.S. businesses owned by followers of Islam as well as businesses that employ followers of Islam.

Citing a "kill" list of U.S. cities marked by the Islamic State that surfaced through social media earlier in 2015, Lowrie challenged "Islamists" to denounce their religion and "false god."

"Many of you may or may not know but Shreveport - Bossier was one of the cities on the Islamist kill lists," He wrote. "Perhaps they despise our hospitality here or our over the top support for our military. Regardless the fact is the Islamist (sic) seek to kill us and make us submit to their false religion and god."

NEWS: Emails deluge local presidential electors

"There are many who worship, if you call it that, Islam here among us," he continued. "I do not believe they deserve the peace of our culture or the continued fruits of our society while following this religion."

"I for one will no longer knowingly go to or do business with any establishment that has someone who I know is a follower of Islam working there. I will challenge every Islamist (sic) I see to denounce their false god and religion. Those Islamist (sic) here walk among us in stores and we act as if they're no different than any of us. Well I'm sorry they are different. Their religion demands you to convert or die."

In a statement to The Times, Lowrie said he stands behind his post.

"We are a Christian nation," he said Friday. "The threat of Islamic terrorism is real. Too many times, politicians are sometimes so afraid to speak the truth because of the PC culture in which we live. I'll call it how I see it. We must tackle Islamic extremism head on. I believe President Trump will do that."

READ THIS: 'Pay Up or Shut Up': City weighs in on water billing error lawsuit

The election for District 8 state representative is expected to be held on March 25. Lowrie is the only person so far to declare for the race. The open seat was held by Johnson, who defeated Democrat Marshall Jones Dec. 10 to win the District 4 U.S. House seat vacated by John Fleming, who ran unsuccessfully for U.S. Senate.

Lowrie ran for the District 8 seat in 2011 against Jeff Thompson, but lost by about 1,000 votes. Johnson would take Thompson's seat in a 2014 special election after Thompson successfully ran for judge of Louisiana's 26th Judicial District Court.