Edwards, a state lawmaker, framed the race as a referendum on Vitter’s character.
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With nearly 90 percent of precincts reporting, Bel Edwards was leading Vitter 54-46, and was declared the victor. David Vitter was set up at a hotel near the airport, while John Bel Edwards lodged in the historic Monteleone Hotel in the French Quarter.
Edwards’ victory speech followed Vitter’s concession, in which Vitter announced that he had phoned Edwards to offer his congratulations. “Hey-ey-ey! Goodbye!”
If Vitter loses Saturday, it would raise questions about what’s next for his seat in the Senate.
Edwards will be sworn in on the second Monday of January.
Before the polls closed, no one in the room seemed to take the outcome for granted.
The Democrat was the state representative for District 72, which covers East Feliciana, St. Helena and Tangipahoa parishes.
“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”.
He told a crowd of supporters in Kenner, “we came up short tonight”.
Edwards and Vitter advanced to the runoff after finishing as the top two in the October 24 open primary. Asked if the prospect of another Vitter victory was still personal, he smiled and said, “Oh, yeah”.
WAFB political analyst Jim Engster projected shortly after 9 p.m. Saturday that Edwards had won the runoff election.
Attorney General Buddy Caldwell won’t keep his job for another term.
The run-off election will let Edwards succeed the term-limited Gov. Bobby Jindal, who just dropped out of the presidential race. He had little name recognition in the southern half of the state, whereas Vitter was well-known, had millions in his war chest and seemed to have moved past his prostitution scandal when he was reelected to the Senate in 2010.
Vitter’s unpopularity was demonstrated by the success of Billy Nungesser, the Republican in the lieutenant governor’s race. The survey also found that the refugee crisis could help Vitter, with 40 percent of voters saying they were more likely to support Vitter because of it compared to only 36 percent for Edwards.
After the primary, Angelle remained conspicuously silent. Democrat John Bel Edwards won the runoff election…
Vitter said he is excited about “starting a new chapter in my professional life” after he leaves the Senate. Ellis had a different story now: that she had become pregnant with Vitter’s child and he’d asked her to have an abortion.
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In the final days of the campaign, with the November 13 Paris terrorist attacks fresh in voters’ minds, Vitter’s campaign released a series of television and radio advertisements and made recorded telephone calls to voters that linked Edwards to President Barack Obama’s decision to accept refugees from war- torn Syria into the U.S. However, the race went to a runoff since neither candidate earned a majority.
