With all precincts reporting, Vitter lost to Democrat John Bel Edwards, the minority leader in the state’s House of Representatives, 56 percent to 44 percent.
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While Vitter’s loss wasn’t necessarily a surprise, his announcement that he would not seek re-election did a few as something of a surprise, at least in its timing.
And all of those Democrats – in fact, not just in the past 40 years but going all the way back to John Parker in 1920, who when he was elected was a businessman never having held elected office – had better resumes in public office than John Bel Edwards has right now.
For Democrats, Edwards’s win is a reminder that the party needs to reach out to conservative and independent voters.
In the final days leading up to the election, Vitter sought to rally Republican voters who stayed home in the primary by drawing distinctions with Edwards and making Syrian refugee resettlement an issue in the state campaign.
Those Republicans might gravitate toward a candidate like Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, who was thought to be U.S. Sen.
“It was a rejection of David Vitter”, Grigsby said. By last night, he was conceding defeat and preparing for an exit from the U.S. Senate. Vitter’s Senate seat is likely to remain in Republican hands. As fruitless as that effort often was, it seemed to clarify what his pitch would be in a governor’s race.
Edwards painted the race as a referendum on Vitter’s character and suggested the senator didn’t measure up in such a competition. Two potential candidates who have already ruled themselves out are Governor Bobby Jindal, who said shortly after withdrawing from the race for President that he had no interest in running for Senate if Vitter won yesterday, and former Senator Mary Landrieu, who ruled out an attempt at a comeback earlier this year. Roger Villere, chairman of the state Republican party, said: “Make no mistake, Louisiana is a deep red state and our Republican brand is strong”. Now that he is on the other side of that equation, it’s not clear how involved he wants to be in the leadership selection process. Dardenne eventually endorsed Edwards; Angell refused to endorse anyone. Edwards espoused many of our conservative positions in order to get elected, and it’s our hope that he continues to abide by them as he governs. “And probably 80 percent of us are stuck in the middle with nowhere to go”.
Edwards, an anti-abortion, pro-gun Democrat, will replace Jindal, who is unpopular in his state and barred by term limits from seeking re-election. But he also plans to expand Medicaid and push for a higher minimum wage, issues popular with Louisiana Democrats. This isn’t Texas where last year’s lieutenant governor’s race was an extremely bitter contest, but mostly everyone was able to agree on a candidate.
In speeches, he pledged: “I will be honest with you”.
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After a long battle, the Louisiana governor’s race has been decided.
But the schools have grown statewide under BESE, and New Orleans has one of the heaviest presence of charter schools in the nation.
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One evening in 2013, two tired Democratic legislators sat at their desks in the state Capitol, stared across the emptying House chamber and considered another unsuccessful day of fighting the governor. The first hint of victory came when a brass band led a second line through the packed ballroom, revelers waving yellow campaign hankies and the air. He is also the first Democrat to hold any statewide office since that year. The dynamic changed, Edwards says, because of his supporters.
