Louisiana to choose governor today

David Vitter in a runoff election on Saturday to become the next governor of Louisiana.

Edwards will succeed term limited “Bobby” Jindal. But Vitter was hit with repeated attacks for a 2007 prostitution scandal in which he apologized for a “serious sin” after he was linked through phone records to Washington’s “D.C. Madam”. With that defeat, there are no Democrats now holding a statewide office in the state.

Edwards finished in first place among the four gubernatorial candidates receiving votes in the double digits in that primary election, garnering 40 percent of the vote – nearly double those of his nearest contender, U.S. Sen.

The USA senator also was hampered by high disapproval ratings for his fellow Republican, Jindal, who is blamed for the state’s financial problems. All three polls taken since the Jungle Primary and listed at RealClearPolitics show Vitter trailing Edwards by double digits, for example, but it’s worth noting that all of those polls were taken before the Paris attacks and Vitter’s change in strategy. “It comes as no real surprise that David Vitter is distorting the facts and attempting to use this disaster to save his distressed effort”, Edwards says in the advertisement.

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. Vitter said Edwards can’t be trusted and would choose Obama over the people of Louisiana.

But Vitter’s fate is not sealed, despite trailing Edwards by double digits in most polls since they both advanced to the runoff in October.

Republican challenger Jeff Landry defeated the GOP incumbent in Saturday night’s runoff election, ending Caldwell’s tenure as Louisiana’s top lawyer after two terms. The senator’s years-old prostitution scandal and hard relationships with several Republicans in the state proved to be too much to overcome.

The lieutenant governor’s runoff between Democrat Kip Holden and Republican Billy Nungesser has been a quieter competition, with the two men trying to build off grassroots support and name recognition.

Charges and counter charges involving thugs, terrorists, hookers and secret agents have predominated the raucous final expanse of a Louisiana governor’s race that was, until lately, anticipated to be a simple triumph for Republican Sen.

A New Orleans-based investigative blogger published an interview with a former escort who claimed to have carried on a yearslong affair with Vitter.

Vitter said he is excited about “starting a new chapter in my professional life” after he leaves the Senate.

Vitter’s frosty relationships with other Republican elected officials also caught up with him.

In what became known in political circles as the Vitter Rule, rather than embarking on a “healing tour” or “business-as-usual approach” like so many scandal-tarred politicians, the Louisiana Republican opted instead to essentially disappear.