Voters pick Democrat as governor

A Democrat was such a long shot for Louisiana governor past year after Mary Landrieu’s Senate defeat, that her brother Mitch, the mayor of New Orleans, and long-rumored as a gubernatorial candidate, did not even run. He focused on domestic issues and vowed to fix a state hobbled by budget deficits and spending cuts rather than on the refugee controversy. Dardenne’s campaign manager Jay Vicknair, who proved himself a conservative trooper by enlisting in Vitter’s campaign for the runoff, is exempt from this criticism; others are not. “The state’s in real trouble”. Some 290,000 people in the state have no health coverage, because Jindal refused Medicaid funds under [the Patient Protection Act] on ideological grounds.

Inauguration for the new governor will be held on January 20, 2016. There is no shortage of those who are seen as interested, including U.S. Reps. Trailing, Vitter launched an ad that used footage of the attacks and called for a halt of Syrian refugees into Louisiana, fearing that ISIS sympathizers could infiltrate.

Vitter entered the race as the early favorite amid a field of lesser known and lesser funded candidates, including state Democratic Rep. Edwards.

The Vitter defeat will have ripple effects in Louisiana politics.

State Rep. John Bel Edwards trounced Republican Sen. Thousands of Republicans went out of their way to vote against Vitter. When all was said and done, Edwards pulled in 55 percent of the vote.

Edwards attracted a surprising number of endorsements from law enforcement groups, such as the Louisiana Sheriffs Association, that are more inclined to favor Republicans.

“It comes as no surprise that David Vitter is distorting the facts and trying to use this tragedy to save his desperate campaign”, Edwards said from a bookshelf-lined office, with an American flag in the background.

Vitter tried to link Edwards to the policies of President Obama, who is very unpopular in deeply conservative Louisiana.

Edwards, who began his gubernatorial bid as a little-known lawmaker from rural Tangipahoa Parish, responded to the spike in Vitter’s disapproval ratings with a campaign built on personal integrity, a resume that includes a West Point degree and a tenure as an Army Ranger, and pledges that he’d run a moderate administration built on bipartisanship.

Edwards thanked voters in a statement late Saturday.

We congratulate him and wish him the best.

“I’m only going to be doing that for one more year though this term”, Vitter said.

Let’s start with the current political environment in Louisiana, for example. “That’s a bipartisan feeling right now”.

Edwards’ victory speech followed Vitter’s concession, in which Vitter announced that he had phoned Edwards to offer his congratulations.

Among them: calling a special legislative session in February sometime after Mardi Gras to address a $500 million mid-year shortfall before the regular session in March where the state will be $1 billion short in fiscal year 2016-17. “I had decided when I decided to make this race with Wendy that I wanted to pursue new challenges outside the Senate no matter what”.

“I will always be honest with you”.

Edwards plans to meet with the media Sunday afternoon in New Orleans.