“In Louisiana, it’s an open secret that Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) concluded a years-long blood feud with Vitter by ending his presidential campaign on Tuesday,” the Washington Post reports.
Said political reporter Julia O’Donoghue: “You can’t get anyone to admit it, but it’s what everyone thinks. We spent two days talking about refugees and then two days talking about Jindal. Those first two days were the only ones in the runoff when John Bel Edwards was on defense.”
The final Market Research Insight poll in Louisiana before today’s runoff for governor shows John Bel Edwards (D) solidly ahead of Sen. David Vitter (R), 52% to 40%.
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “took advantage of early voting last week and have already cast the ballots in the Louisiana governor’s race. But Jindal won’t say who he supported,” the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.
“Jindal had announced last week he wouldn’t be endorsing Vitter in the runoff, but now he won’t even tell the public if he voted for his fellow Republican. Jindal and Vitter famously don’t get along. Jindal didn’t endorse Vitter in the 2010 U.S. Senate race either.”
You're reading the free version of Political Wire
Upgrade to a paid membership to unlock full access. The process is quick and easy. You can even use Apple Pay.
A new JMC Analytics survey in Louisiana finds John Bel Edwards (D) leading Sen. David Vitter (R) in the race for governor, 51% to 35%, with 13% undecided.
In an attempt to save his struggling campaign for Louisiana governor, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) released a new ad that tries to make the election about terrorism.
David Weigel: “His closing argument depends on making Democratic nominee John Bel Edwards, a state representative who responded cautiously to the refugee aspect of the crisis, into a refugee-hugging accomplice of President Obama.”
“Even in a state that traditionally spends a lot to elect a governor, this year’s campaign already has churned through a phenomenal amount of money and probably will end up being the most expensive in Louisiana history,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
“The candidates — and the super PACs that support them — spent almost $31 million through Nov. 1, according to disclosures filed with the Louisiana Board of Ethics. The most expensive gubernatorial race on record was the 2007 election, in which the four major candidates spent about $32 million.”
“This year’s total doesn’t include any of the money state Rep. John Bel Edwards, the Democratic candidate, and U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican, spent over the past two weeks.”
A new Market Research Insight poll in Louisiana finds John Bel Edwards (D) leading Sen. David Vitter (R) in the race for governor by a wide margin, 52% to 38%.
A University of New Orleans poll finds Edwards leading Vitter, 56% to 34%.
“Louisiana is half-way into early voting in the runoff race for governor, and voter turnout appears to be outpacing the early vote in the Oct. 24 primary,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
“John Couvillion of JMC Analytics has reviewed the figures and says in a new blog post that voter turnout could be 45 to 50 percent in the Nov. 21 runoff election. Voter turnout in the primary was just 39 percent.”
“You’re a liar, and you’re a cheater.”
— John Bel Edwards (D), quoted by the New Orleans Times Picayune, in a gubernatorial debate with Sen. David Vitter (R).
If Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) loses the race for Louisiana governor next week, “there is buzz among Republicans in Louisiana and Washington that he would not run for reelection to the Senate in 2016,” the Washington Post reports.
“A loss in the gubernatorial contest would open him up to a serious GOP challenger, and it would be much harder to hit up the donors who have spent this year funding his campaign. Vitter only had $26,216 in his federal campaign account at the end of September.”
Sen. David Vitter addresses his past indiscretions with a prostitute in a new ad: “I failed my family.”
A new Triumph Campaigns poll in Louisiana finds John Bel Edwards (D) leading David Vitter (R) in the race for governor, 49% to 41%.
Louisiana Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne (R), one of three Republican opponents of John Bel Edwards (D) during the bruising gubernatorial primary, plans to endorse Edwards this morning in his race against Sen. David Vitter (R), the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.
“Endorsing a Democrat in a high-stakes general election carries significant risk for the Republican Dardenne’s future political career, particularly if Vitter is ultimately elected governor. But Dardenne has said he has no plans to run for political office beyond his campaign for governor.”
A new WVLA/JMC Analytics poll in Louisiana finds John Bel Edwards (D) leading Sen. David Vitter (R) in the race for governor by 20 points, 52% to 32%.
A new Market Research Insight poll shows Edwards leading by 16 points, 54% to 38%.
The Cook Political Report gives the runoff for Louisiana governor between John Bel Edwards and David Vitter a rating of “toss up.”
“The fact that Vitter isn’t currently part of state government or an ally of GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is very unpopular even among Republicans, was also thought to be an asset. Instead, being a member of a more unpopular U.S. Congress could very well be a bigger liability. Finally, despite the well-publicized rift between Vitter and Jindal, the argument that electing Vitter would simply be a continuation of Jindal’s polices seemed to stick.”
The New York Times says the fundamentals still favor Sen. David Vitter (R) in the runoff for Louisiana governor — unless “bizarre developments” in the final 48-hour stretch of the primary prove damaging.
“The political world was astonished Friday night when news emerged that a private investigator conducting opposition research for the Vitter campaign was arrested in the New Orleans suburbs. The arrest arose from an almost comical sequence of events… According to Sheriff Normand, some in the group noticed a man who appeared to be filming their conversation with a small camera. When the man was confronted, he left the cafe and took off through the surrounding backyards. After a brief search, sheriff’s deputies found him hiding behind an air-conditioning unit. He was charged with criminal mischief, a misdemeanor.”
Louisiana state Rep. John Bel Edwards (D) and Sen. David Vitter (R) “will continue their heated battle for governor in a Nov. 21 runoff after finishing 1-2 in the primary election Saturday,” the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.
“The Edwards-Vitter pairing was no surprise. Edwards was all but guaranteed 30 percent of the vote as the only major Democrat running; he ended up with 40 percent. Vitter was the candidate of choice for conservative Republicans, but was a distant second with 23 percent.”
“A private investigator working for Sen. David Vitter’s gubernatorial campaign was arrested Friday and charged with illegally recording a conversation involving a local sheriff, throwing a last-minute wrench into Saturday’s all-party primary as other campaigns pounced on the news,” Politico reports.
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
“There are a lot of blogs and news sites claiming to understand politics, but only a few actually do. Political Wire is one of them.”
— Chuck Todd, host of “Meet the Press”
“Concise. Relevant. To the point. Political Wire is the first site I check when I’m looking for the latest political nugget. That pretty much says it all.”
— Stuart Rothenberg, editor of the Rothenberg Political Report
“Political Wire is one of only four or five sites that I check every day and sometimes several times a day, for the latest political news and developments.”
— Charlie Cook, editor of the Cook Political Report
“The big news, delicious tidbits, pearls of wisdom — nicely packaged, constantly updated… What political junkie could ask for more?”
— Larry Sabato, Center for Politics, University of Virginia
“Political Wire is a great, great site.”
— Joe Scarborough, host of MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”
“Taegan Goddard has a knack for digging out political gems that too often get passed over by the mainstream press, and for delivering the latest electoral developments in a sharp, no frills style that makes his Political Wire an addictive blog habit you don’t want to kick.”
— Arianna Huffington, founder of The Huffington Post
“Political Wire is one of the absolute must-read sites in the blogosphere.”
— Glenn Reynolds, founder of Instapundit
“I rely on Taegan Goddard’s Political Wire for straight, fair political news, he gets right to the point. It’s an eagerly anticipated part of my news reading.”
— Craig Newmark, founder of Craigslist.