Democrats were ecstatic as Edwards defied expectations that only a Republican could win statewide in Louisiana.
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To be sure, Democrats didn’t expect to win the Louisiana governorship, considering Republicans now control every governorship and state legislature in the Deep South.
Edwards ran a brilliant campaign that neatly capitalized on Vitter’s weaknesses, especially his involvement in the D.C. Madam scandal that rocked Capitol Hill several years ago. And his campaign was accused of ethical improprieties after allegations it secretly recorded political opponents.
Edwards will take over the office from former 2016 Republican presidential candidate Gov. Bobby Jindal in January. Vitter attacked the other Republicans as free-spending liberals while they labeled Vitter “vicious” and “a liar”, bringing up the prostitution scandal in debates. He filled Louisiana airwaves with an ad titled “Prostitutes over Patriots”, highlighting his military service and reminding voters that Vitter “answered a prostitute’s call minutes after he skipped a vote honoring 28 soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our freedom”.
Edwards started his campaign as a little-known lawmaker from rural Tangipahoa Parish, about 75 miles north of New Orleans.
Vitter said his Democratic challenger would open Louisiana’s floodgates to the refugees, even though Edwards said he opposes the president’s relocation plan.
“Make no mistake, Louisiana is a deep red state and our Republican brand is strong”, Villere said in a statement lamenting a “disappointing result in the gubernatorial race”. Within a week, a Republican who lost in the primary had endorsed Edwards.
A prostitution scandal from 2007, the baggage of an unpopular Republican incumbent, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and a series of state political foes with long memories dragged Vitter down before an Oct 24 primary.
In speeches, he pledged: “I will be honest with you”. At a, Vitter said of Edwards’ moderate talk on the campaign trail, “There is just this enormous gap between your rhetoric and your record”.
Vitter’s campaign tried to change the subject by seizing on controversy over whether Syrian refuges should be allowed into the United States, in the wake of the Paris massacre. “I trust the people of Louisiana”, Jindal said.
Taking nothing for granted, Edwards ran a brutal attack ad, implying that Vitter missed a key vote for veterans while speaking to a prostitute.
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The race was one of the most expensive in Louisiana’s history, as candidates and outside groups spent at least $30 million in the mudslinging contest.
