Louisiana 2023 gubernatorial election megathread

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

Democrats won Louisiana in 2015 mostly because of two reasons:

1. EXTREMELY big scandal with Vitter

Vitter's scandal came out before his 2010 reelection. Yeah, I know no Republican senator was going to lose in 2010, but he could've been challenged by another Republican.

It was more just how divisive the GOP primary had been (yes, I know it's a jungle primary, but there were three major Republicans and just one major Democrat). One of his opponents actually endorsed bel Edwards and the other was neutral.

Plus, the Republican Governor was pretty unpopular though he and Vitter weren't exactly allies.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

Democrats won Louisiana in 2015 mostly because of two reasons:

1. EXTREMELY big scandal with Vitter

Vitter's scandal came out before his 2010 reelection. Yeah, I know no Republican senator was going to lose in 2010, but he could've been challenged by another Republican.

It was more just how divisive the GOP primary had been (yes, I know it's a jungle primary, but there were three major Republicans and just one major Democrat). One of his opponents actually endorsed bel Edwards and the other was neutral.

Plus, the Republican Governor was pretty unpopular though he and Vitter weren't exactly allies.

Well, i read the book about JBE campaign, and there was a clear statement there, that Vitter scandal came out during gubernatorial campaign (it was basis for famous "Patriots against prostitutes" video). Though i agree, that Republican candidates were different that time, and either Dardenne or Angelle would beat JBE...

It came out in 2007 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senator-caught-in-dc-madam-scandal/

Now, having said that, you're right that the scandal was still a major issue in the gubernatorial campaign. My guess is that Louisiana just cares more about who their governor is than their senator. And 2010 wasn't happening in a vacuum....it was a national midterm election in which all the focus was on the Democrats as the party controlling the WH & Congress. 2015's an off-year election with just three gubernatorial races.

[TheElectoralBoobyPrize]

Democrats won Louisiana in 2015 mostly because of two reasons:

1. EXTREMELY big scandal with Vitter

Vitter's scandal came out before his 2010 reelection. Yeah, I know no Republican senator was going to lose in 2010, but he could've been challenged by another Republican.

It was more just how divisive the GOP primary had been (yes, I know it's a jungle primary, but there were three major Republicans and just one major Democrat). One of his opponents actually endorsed bel Edwards and the other was neutral.

Plus, the Republican Governor was pretty unpopular though he and Vitter weren't exactly allies.

Well, i read the book about JBE campaign, and there was a clear statement there, that Vitter scandal came out during gubernatorial campaign (it was basis for famous "Patriots against prostitutes" video). Though i agree, that Republican candidates were different that time, and either Dardenne or Angelle would beat JBE...

It came out in 2007 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/senator-caught-in-dc-madam-scandal/

Now, having said that, you're right that the scandal was still a major issue in the gubernatorial campaign. My guess is that Louisiana just cares more about who their governor is than their senator. And 2010 wasn't happening in a vacuum....it was a national midterm election in which all the focus was on the Democrats as the party controlling the WH & Congress. 2015's an off-year election with just three gubernatorial races.

Well, quite possible. Though i am honestly surprised, that for 8 years no one was really interested in this scandal. I understand, that before 2015 and after 2007, the only election Vitter came through was for Senate in very good for republicans 2010, and agree with your reasoning, but still - surprised...

It's not so much that no one was interested, but Vitter refused to resign and I guess he hadn't committed an indictable crime or no prosecutor thought it was worth pursuing. It takes a two-third vote to expel a member of Congress. Blanco would've still been governor when it first broke (Jindal being elected later in the year) so Republicans weren't about to give up a Senate seat. He was lucky that he wasn't up until 2010.