Democrat John Bel Edwards Elected Governor of Louisiana

But the man who finished 3rd behind Vitter and Edwards, threw his support to the Democrat, further complicating Vitter’s efforts. When the final campaign finance reports are filed, the contest is expected to be the most expensive governor’s race in Louisiana history.

But now, with the election on Saturday, Sen. David Vitter was the presumed frontrunner. If Vitter wins, he will prove to be the political comeback story of 2015.

After his loss Saturday, Vitter said he wouldn’t seek reelection to the Senate in 2016.

“This election shows us that the people of Louisiana in a time of deep cynicism about our politics, and also about our future, that the people have chosen hope over scorn… over negativity”, a jubilant Edwards said to his cheering supporters during his victory speech at the Monteleone Hotel. “Maybe there will be blood in the water”.

Still, few people are ready to count him out.

In one ad, an announcer intones, “Vitter chose prostitutes over patriots”, implying that he answered a sex worker’s call during a veteran’s program, NPR reported. It was only previous year that he pushed aside other would-be contenders to guide then-Rep. David Vitter in the runoff with 56 percent of the vote.

What’s coming – soon – is the great hangover from one of the most discordant political choices imaginable.

State Rep. Kenny Havard is among those who broke GOP ranks to endorse Edwards. “This isn’t about forgiveness or redemption”, said Edwards, according to Politico.

Still, it was clear Edwards wanted and needed Vitter in the runoff.

Kennedy was also angling for the appointment to Vitter’s Senate seat, if Vitter had been elected governor.

That message has connected with many female voters. All five endorsed Vitter for governor and either appeared with Vitter during the campaign or publicly appealed for Republicans to unify behind him. Vitter also was hampered by high disapproval ratings for Jindal, who is blamed for the state’s financial problems. As of this writing, Vitter trailed 55-45 percent, but that was the margin by which Nungesser led his race.

The irony is that the two Republicans can’t stand each other.

The focus on refugees was an attempt by Vitter to connect with voter concerns about immigration and terrorism while giving Republicans offended by his personal behavior a reason to vote for him, Pearson Cross, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said before the vote. “I had decided when I chose to make this race with (wife) Wendy that I wanted to pursue new challenges outside the Senate no matter what”. “By Louisiana standards, though, it wasn’t an all-timer”. His brother is a parish sheriff.

Edwards, forty-nine, now represents Louisiana’s 72nd District in its House of Representatives. Edwards, a comparatively unknown Democratic legislator from Amite, was both. “Sometimes he and I are going to disagree on what the best ideas are, but I think his heart is in the right place”. “I will never embarrass you”.

Nathan Lott, 38, a graduate student at Tulane University in New Orleans, said Vitter’s attacks on Bel Edwards about the Syrian refugees “was not working for me”.

Vitter became embroiled in a prostitiution scandal in 2007. But it’s only recently that her husband has felt he had to address the issue more directly with voters. “I’ve forgiven David Vitter of his past sins”.