Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 192
November Surprises
“Former Ku Klux Klan wizard David Duke planned to emerge from a 17-year political hiatus to qualify for the U.S. Senate race in a state already roiling with racial tension,” USA Today reports.
“Duke, a Republican who served one term in the Louisiana House, hasn’t run for office since 1999. He is running to fill the seat that will be vacated by Republican Sen. David Vitter.”
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal (R) “said he hasn’t ruled out a future run for president, but he has no desire to run for the U.S. Senate seat that’s opening next year with Republican David Vitter’s retirement from the chamber,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
John Bel Edwards (D) defeated Sen. David Vitter (R) in the race for Louisiana governor, the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.
Baton Rouge Advocate: “Voters’ rejection of Vitter was a stunning turn of events for the U.S. senator, who has been a political powerhouse in the state for years and started his campaign nearly two years ago as the race’s front-runner.”
Vitter surprised supporters with an announcement that he would not run for re-election to the Senate next year: “I’ve reached my personal term limit.”
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.”
Rep. Charles Boustany (R-LA) “told supporters at a June fundraiser that he plans to run for the Senate in 2016 if Sen. David Vitter’s 2015 gubernatorial run is successful, a donor told National Journal, and Boustany has hired an experienced Senate campaign manager to helm his political operation.”
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) “pretty much dismissed any notion that she would run again for governor, the Senate or any other public office,” Politico reports.
Said Landrieu: “Oh Lord, no. Well, let me say, I’m not going to say a definite ‘no’ about any of those two. I’ve been trained to never say no. But it is highly, highly unlikely.”
Rep. John Fleming (R-LA) is “very interested” in running for Senate in 2016 if Sen. David Vitter (R) is elected Louisiana governor next year, Roll Call reports.
“Louisiana only wrapped up the 2014 Senate race a few days ago, but soon state operatives may start thinking about another race. Vitter has already announced an exploratory committee to run for governor in 2015. If Vitter wins, Fleming said, he wants to succeed him in the Senate.”
Bill Cassidy (R) soundly defeated Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) in the U.S. Senate runoff in Louisiana, 54% to 42%, the New Orleans Times Picayune reports.
“Cassidy rode a wave of Republican support that swept the nation during the midterm elections. Voters in Louisiana were angry with President Obama and his policies, particularly the Affordable Care Act. Cassidy used Landrieu’s vote for the law against her to motive people to oust her from office.”
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) slipped and told a radio host that she did not vote for President Obama, The Hill reports.
Said Landrieu: “I voted for the Affordable Care Act, I did not vote for Obama.”
Harry Enten: “William Thompson of Kansas and Wesley Jones of Washington are former U.S. senators — you get a pass for not recognizing them, they’ve been dead for more than 80 years. But if you’ll be watching Saturday’s Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu and Republican Bill Cassidy in Louisiana, remember their names. These senators sustained the greatest margin of defeat for an elected incumbent (not running on a third-party ticket after a primary defeat) since the direct election of senators began in the early 1900s. Thompson lost by 30 percentage points in 1918, and Jones by 28 points in 1932.”
“Landrieu probably won’t overtake Thompson and Jones, but she could be headed toward a top 10 historic defeat. The FiveThirtyEight model projects her losing the runoff 99.8 percent of the time, and by a 57.8 percent to 42.2 percent margin.”
Jeff Zeleny: “The Republican midterm election march has one more act, with the Louisiana Senate runoff on Saturday. To say that Democrats have thrown in the towel would be an understatement. The Iraqi Army fled Mosul slower than Democrats abandoned Mary Landrieu in the wake of the November thumping in Senate races across the country. If Bill Cassidy wins this weekend, Republicans will hold a 54-seat majority in the Senate, which is more muscular than Mitch McConnell had dreamed only months ago. It’s not the 60 votes needed to fully run the table, but there are six moderate and independents to help reach that threshold on some popular red-state issues.”
Meanwhile, David Wasserman attempts to quantify the most and least impressive campaigns of 2014.
“Here’s how lopsided Louisiana’s Senate runoff is: Bill Cassidy is so far ahead that he’s not in the state campaigning. Two days before the election,” Politico reports.
“While Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu hustles across the Bayou State ahead of Saturday’s runoff, the Republican congressman is in Washington this week, voting on legislation and debating how to keep the government from shutting down. His press operation appears to be nonexistent.”
Roll Call: 3 things to know about the Louisiana Senate runoff
Beleaguered Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) warned Louisiana voters that her defeat would elevate an advocate of “windmills” to a powerful position on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.
Said Landrieu: “If I don’t get back there as a senior member of the committee, we’re gonna have a woman who I like very much (but) I’m not sure Louisiana is going to think very much of a senator from Washington state who’s all for windmills and alternative energy, and doesn’t support the oil and gas industry.”
“She was speaking about Democratic colleague Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA), who just then was sending out an email appeal to raise money for Landrieu.”
A new WPA Opinion Research poll in Louisiana finds Bill Cassidy (R) leads Sen. Mary Landrieu (D) by 24 points in their U.S. Senate runoff, 57% to 33%.
Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) “lobbed a barb at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Tuesday, saying they effectively abandoned her after the Nov. 4 midterm election,” the Washington Post reports.
Said Landrieu: “I am extremely disappointed in the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. I’ve said that. You know, they just walked away from this race.”
“Short of treason by Cassidy in the next 72 hours, I just don’t see it. The issue is she voted with Barack Obama. Whether you like it or not it’s the big issue that’s killing her.”
— Pollster Bernie Pinsonat, quoted by the Daily Beast, on Sen. Mary Landrieu’s chances to win Louisina’s U.S. Senate runoff on Saturday.
Another new ad from Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) says that challenger Bill Cassidy (R) “has endorsed a documentary which claims slavery was better for black folks than welfare,” according to BuzzFeed.
The ad goes on: “But worse than that, Cassidy and Jindal are trying to impeach our President.”
A new radio ad for Sen. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) features Rep. Cedric Richmond (D-LA) saying Republicans will impeach President Obama if Bill Cassidy (R) wins the U.S. Senate runoff on Saturday, BuzzFeed reports.
[speech_bubble type=”std” subtype=”a” icon=”pwdome.jpg” name=””]Landrieu, of course, says she “approves this message.” [/speech_bubble]
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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