“I will always be honest”, John Bel Edwards said. “I’m not doing this anymore”.
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He said he called Edwards to congratulate him.
“He said, ‘I’m either going to go home or go big, ‘” Jones recalled. Mary Landrieu, who ironically was the last Democrat elected statewide in 2008, was soundly defeated in 2014, though she gained more votes than any other Louisiana Democrat during the seven-year losing streak until Saturday night. Edwin Edwards and John Bel Edwards are not related.
The campaign also dredged up Vitter’s involvement in a 2007 prostitution scandal in Washington.
“I came up short”, Vitter said in a concession speech, adding that he would not seek re-election to the Senate after his term expires in a year. “It’s a good strategy if you can get away with it”. The unexpected events Saturday will force a major recalculation by those Republicans, but the candidates have fewer uncertainties to deal with.
Edwards, a state lawmaker, will take over the office from term-limited Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal in January. “It don’t happen like that very often”.
Edwards defied conventional wisdom that a Democrat would be doomed in a ruby red Republican Southern state, winning with 55% of the vote with about half of the precincts reporting. In Louisiana’s “jungle primary” system, candidates of all parties run together, with the top two finishers having a runoff if neither one secures 50 percent of the vote.
Vitter is no longer seeking re-election to his Senate seat.
It was the first loss ever for U.S. Sen.
U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, who represents the Lafayette and Lake Charles area, wants the position and has been traveling Louisiana over the past couple of months.
Running for state office, though, the charges stuck.
The Louisiana gubernatorial race has ended with a surprise victory for Democrats.
The main lesson is that a socially conservative Democrat can still win in Dixie against a flawed Republican who can’t unite his party.
Social issues, in any case, will be far down his to-do list. Instead of clearing the field for him to replace the Congressman it’s more likely that Vitter and his allies will stack it with challengers.
Other names that have been mentioned in the wake of Vitter’s decision to retire include Republican Congressmen Steve Scalise, the current House Majority Whip who had briefly stood for election as House Majority Leader when it appeared that Kevin McCarthy would be succeeding John Boehner as Speaker of the House.
But the governor’s race was different. The people of Louisiana are a strong, resilient people, and it has been an absolute honor to serve this state the past eight years. “So I think the people of Louisiana spoke tonight and spoke with a loud voice”. Starkel said Edwards had been particularly adept at stealth assault drills. We hope he governs progressively and brings broad prosperity to the Bayou State’s many diverse communities.
Edwards repeated his campaign pledge to govern with a moderate and bipartisan approach.
Vitter is fighting by accusing Edwards of being soft on terrorism.
Edwards based his campaign on personal integrity, contrasting his degree from West Point and tenure in the Army Rangers with Vitter’s scandal.
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Still, his colleague Jones said, he never quite learned to land a punch line.
