BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) -- Candidates are jumping into the race to represent parts of Baton Rouge in the state legislature. The District 14 seat, which stretches from north Baton Rouge to south of LSU along the river, was recently vacated by Cleo Fields who assumed his seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Three major candidates, all Democrats, have emerged as the qualifying period continues into Thursday. Larry Selders, Carolyn Hill and Quentin Anthony Anderson are all vying for their spot in the legislature's upper chamber. East Baton Rouge, Lafayette to have February special election: What to know Larry Selders State Rep. Larry Selders is looking to move across the hall five years after he joined the Louisiana House of Representatives. Selders is a social worker who provides therapy for parts of the most vulnerable populations in the capital region. Selders says one thing he looks to tackle in the Senate is putting in place mental health screenings for children to get them access to care. In recent years he has passed legislation that created mental health screenings for incarcerated people upon their release. “I think if we allow parents to decide if we can have mental health screenings at an early age, we can catch a lot of the problems because some of these kids just aren't bad kids. A lot of them have mental health issues that are going undiagnosed,” Selders said. Working in the House where there is a similar Republican supermajority as what he would meet in the Senate is nothing new. He said he has relationships with people of both parties in the House and Senate that allow him to compromise and get bills passed. “I think I did a great job of building friendships that are going to carry across. And I have a lot of colleagues that were in the House my first time that…are now in the Senate…It’s working together, being transparent, you know, letting folks know how it affects my constituents versus your constituents.” Selders was endorsed by Rep. Cleo Fields shortly after he vacated the Senate seat. Carolyn Hill Carolyn Hill is a former member of the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) for a term. She recently has worked as a political consultant but also has a background in social work. “We know education is the key to success. We know education is the key to helping individuals to get out of poverty,” Hill said. “And we look at Louisiana, we are ranked last when it comes to education, poverty, etc and so for me, my passion is education.” While education is going to be a primary focus for her with an emphasis on early childhood education funding, she has her sights on addressing crime. “We have to tackle the juvenile delinquents in the crime that we are facing in our city, in our state, today because research shows that most of the crimes that have been committed have been with teenagers,” Hill said. “So we have to come up with a mechanism or legislation to make sure that we rehabilitate. But not only rehabilitate but to make sure we give them the tools, the resources to be successful.” She is not deterred by the former state senator’s endorsement of her opponent. As a former elected official, she said she knows how to work across the aisle and make sure constituents understand her as a candidate. Quentin Anderson Someone not a stranger to the campaign trail in this race is Quentin Anthony Anderson. Anderson spent most of 2024 campaigning against Fields for the congressional seat Fields ultimately won. After a long underdog race, he took time to think about his next move and decided getting into the legislature to be a voice for his key issues was important. “I think that any representative seat in politics, particularly in a democracy, it's one of the most selfless jobs that you can have if you serve your community,” Anderson said. “If you like serving your community, if you find that gratifying, if you think that that's where you have value, you can have tremendous value by representing your community at those tables of power, where many times their destinies, their fates, their, you know, interests are on the line.” Anderson is a community advocate who has served multiple nonprofits in the Baton Rouge area. The main focus from his federal race is being translated to the District 14 race with his eyes on better wages and improving education and health care access. He prides himself on not taking donations from major interest groups who he said look to sway him on future votes should he win. He is not daunted by a Republican supermajority in the Senate but also puts pressure on fellow Democrats not to concede too much of their core beliefs. “Progress is not an option. You have to figure out how you move the needle, whether it's an inch or a mile. I actually look forward to the opportunity of working with people that are diametrically opposed to me and figuring out what we can get done,” Anderson said. Qualifying ends on Jan. 9. The special election for this seat is set for Feb. 15. 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