Louisiana elects John Bel Edwards as governor in upset win for Democrat

Republican “Billy” Nungessor was also elected Lieutenant Governor with 55 percent of the vote over Democrat Melvin “Kip” Holden. When the final campaign finance reports are filed, the contest is expected to be the most expensive governor’s race in Louisiana history. David Vitter was the presumed frontrunner. “So I think the people of Louisiana spoke tonight and spoke with a loud voice”. “Maybe there will be blood in the water”.

Louisiana Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards celebrates with supporters at his election night watch party in New Orleans, Saturday, Nov. 21, 2015. 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 a year ago that he pushed aside other would-be contenders to guide then-Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-La.

The win is a breakthrough for liberals as Democrats have been shut out of most statewide and Congressional races in the Deep South for a decade.

Democrats will tout Edwards’s support for President Barack Obama’s policy on refugees as a reason the party should not be afraid of the issue.

Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Sen.

Edwards is taking over a state awash in financial problems. The state sheriffs’ association is backing Edwards. Roger Villere, chairman of the state Republican party, said: “Make no mistake, Louisiana is a deep red state and our Republican brand is strong”. David Vitter with 56% of the vote, reports the New York Times. Maybe-Edwards’ campaign certainly was a success.

However, on Saturday reason triumphed over fear as voters decisively chose to back Edwards over Vitter. A prostitution scandal from 2007, the baggage of an unpopular Republican incumbent, Gov. Bobby Jindal, and a series of state political foes with long memories dragged Vitter down before an Oct 24 primary.

That message has connected with many female voters.

“He said, ‘I’m either going to go home or go big, ‘” Jones recalled.

A Market Research Insight poll taken before the Paris attacks showed Edwards up by 14 points, 52 percent to 38 percent, among 600 likely voters.

The irony is that the two Republicans can’t stand each other. Soon after, a private investigator working for the Vitter campaign was arrested after surreptitiously filming a group of men at a cafe outside New Orleans – a gathering that included another private investigator, one who had tracked down the escort in the online video.

Entering the governor’s race, Vitter, a Republican, was seen as the favorite.

Let’s start with the current political environment in Louisiana, for example.

“I had decided when I decided 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”. And that’s a reality that Democrats ignore at their own peril. But he also has a 100 percent voting record with Louisiana Right to Life on abortion issues and sports an A grade from the National Rifle Association. David Vitter in Saturday’s election, marking a change in the political landscape in the conservative South. “I will never embarrass you”. He angered Vitter when he refused to endorse the Senate against Edwards in the runoff election.

Scott Angelle, a Republican public service commissioner who came in a close third behind Vitter in the October 24 primary and who declined to make an endorsement in the runoff, has said nothing, though “Angelle for Senate” stickers have appeared in Cajun country. “There is a Christian obligation to forgive people when they seek forgiveness”.

“The message of the gospel is redemption and forgiveness”, said Fritz Brown, a New Orleans-area minister.

Louisiana’s finances have been in crisis for much of Jindal’s term, the effect of tax cuts made when federal money flowed to the state after Hurricane Katrina, falling oil prices, the state’s hidebound budget laws and Jindal’s opposition to tax increases.

The next governor, he added, may get nothing more than a one-month honeymoon.