BATON ROUGE - Louisiana Speaker of the House Taylor F. Barras called for a special election Friday to fill a vacant seat after Rep. Ronnie Edwards passed away earlier this week.

Barras said the special primary election for the District 29 seat is set for Apr. 9 with the general election following on May 14.

Candidates looking to qualify for the special election must do so between Mar. 7 until 4:30 p.m. and Mar. 9.

Edwards was elected to the position last year despite ongoing health problems. Previously, she had been a member of the Baton Rouge Metro Council.

Edward’s illness became a campaign issue during her run for the legislature. It prevented her from signing up for the election in person and kept her from attending council meetings.

Edwards' district in the Louisiana State House of Representatives covered parts of East Baton Rouge and West Baton Rouge parishes.

Edwards was 63.