Democrat John Bel Edwards wins Louisiana governor’s race

Jindal, who last week ended his presidential candidacy, issued a statement congratulating Edwards.

For more on this, read the article from the Huffington Post titled: “John Bel Edwards Wins Louisiana Gubernatorial Election”. Kennedy has about .8 million in a state campaign account left over from his easy re-election in the October primary; that money cannot be transferred directly to a federal campaign, but it could be funneled to an existing Kennedy-aligned super PAC that could spend it to elect him to the Senate.

Thus the Jindal faction – the outgoing governor, Angelle, Jindal’s political guru Timmy Teepell who was behind Angelle’s campaign all along though never publicly acknowledged – was able to damage Vitter’s campaign at the crucial time. “The state’s in real trouble”.

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal is term-limited.

“John Bel, as much as possible, attempted to identify with Republicans”, said U.S. Sen.

But two Republicans – U.S. Reps.

Edwards’ win offered a rare pick-up of a governor’s seat for Democrats in the conservative Deep South, but Republican leaders insisted it was a one-time fluke that didn’t suggest the GOP was on the ropes in Louisiana. However, after months of attacks, include those about his 2007 prostitution scandal, Vitter barely defeated his two Republican challengers in last month’s open primary and finished second behind Edwards by roughly 14 percentage points.

Vitter introduced a bill on Tuesday that would prohibit the USA from admitting any Syrian refugees.

As he campaigned, Edwards said he wanted to unlock budget protections that keep a few areas of the budget shielded from cuts, expand the state’s Medicaid program to help cover a few health care costs and scale back tax break programs.

Edwards, whom the NY Times described as a “Catholic social conservative from a family of rural law enforcement officers who graduated from West Point and served eight years of active duty in the Army”, won his hard-fought campaign in part by casting doubt on Vitter’s ethics.

“I’m not supporting a Democrat; I’m supporting the man who I think can best bring about the consensus needed to move Louisiana forward”, Shadoin said.

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.

In his victory speech, Edwards talked about catching a “breeze of hope” and how voters weren’t swayed by the “deep cynicism about our politics” and the future.

“As for me, I’m eager to refocus on the important work of the United States Senate, but I’m only going to be doing that for one more year”.

“The current administration has failed Louisiana”, Peterson said in an interview. “That’s a bipartisan feeling right now”. In his concession speech, Vitter announced that he will leave the Senate when his term ends next year.

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.