United States Senate election in Louisiana, 2008

The Louisiana United States Senate election will be held on November 4, 2008. This is the first time that Louisiana will use primaries for federal races. The seat is held by Mary Landrieu, a Democrat, who was elected in 1996 and re-elected in 2002. She is running for her third term.

The primary elections were to be held September 6, 2008, but were rescheduled for October 3, 2008 due to storm damage following Hurricane Gustav. Any necessary party runoffs (not expected to include the Senate race) will then be held on November 4, the same date as the presidential election, and the general election for those races would then be held December 6th. [ [http://www.nola.com/timespic/stories/index.ssf?/base/news-30/122059226298330.xml&coll=1 Primaries likely to be postponed] Ed Anderson, "The Times-Picayune", September 5, 2008] [ [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docid=news-000002944735 Louisiana Primary Blown Back to Oct. 4 by Hurricane’s Aftermath] Bob Benenson, "CQ Politics", September 5, 2008]

"CQ Politics" rates this race as 'Leans Democrat'. [ [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=ratings-senate Race Ratings Chart: Senate] "CQ Politics"] "The Cook Political Report" considers it 'Lean Democrat'. [ [http://www.cookpolitical.com/charts/senate/raceratings_2008-10-09_12-20-35.php 2008 Senate Race Ratings] "The Cook Political Report", October 9, 2008] "The Rothenberg Political Report" considers it a 'Narrow Advantage for Incumbent Party'. [ [http://rothenbergpoliticalreport.blogspot.com/2008/09/2008-senate-ratings_29.html 2008 Senate Ratings] "The Rothenberg Political Report", September 29, 2008] These rankings show Landrieu to be the most vulnerable Democratic senator up for re-election in 2008.

Punditswho speculate that this race will come down to the wire because of a significant drop in the state's African-American population after Hurricane Katrina, especially in Landrieu's hometown of New Orleans. Louisiana also elected a Republican senator in 2004 and may be trending Republican. President Bush carried the state twice, in 2004 with 58 percent of the vote. Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal won the October 20, 2007, gubernatorial election with 54%.

Candidates

Democratic Party

*Mary Landrieu of New Orleans - state representative (1980-1988), state treasurer (1988-1996), U.S. Senator (1997-)

Republican Party

*John N. Kennedy of Madisonville - state treasurer (2000-); former Democrat (no relation to the Massachusetts family), switched parties on August 272007, following talks with Karl Rove, David Vitter, and the NRSC; placed third, behind then-congressmen Vitter and Chris John, in 2004 race for open U.S. Senate seat; announced intention to challenge Landrieu on November 292007 [cite web |title=Kennedy to Challenge Landrieu |url=http://politicalwire.com/archives/2007/11/29/kennedy_to_challenge_landrieu.html |work=Political Wire |date=November 29, 2007]

Libertarian Party

*Richard Fontanesi

Independents

*Jay Patel
*Robert Stewart

Polling

Election Results

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candidate = Mary Landrieu
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candidate = Richard Fontanesi
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candidate = Jay Patel
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candidate = Robert Stewart
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References

External links

* [http://www.sos.louisiana.gov/tabid/68/Default.aspx Elections Division] from the "Louisiana Secretary of State"
* [http://www.votesmart.org/election_congress_state.php?state_id=LA&go33.x=13&go33.y=12 U.S. Congress candidates for Louisiana] at Project Vote Smart
* [http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?docID=senate-LA Louisiana U.S. Senate] from CQ Politics
* [http://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=226868 Louisiana U.S. Senate] from "OurCampaigns.com"
* [http://www.2008racetracker.com/page/LA-Sen Louisiana U.S. Senate race] from "2008 Race Tracker"
* [http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?id=LAS1&cycle=2008 Campaign contributions] from OpenSecrets.org
* [http://www.pollster.com/08-LA-Sen-GE-KvL.php Kennedy (R) vs. Landrieu (D-i)] graph of multiple polls from Pollster.com
* [http://www.nola.com/elections/ Louisiana Elections & Politics] from "The Times-Picayune" newspaper;Official campaign websites
* [http://marylandrieu.com/ Senator Mary Landrieu] , Democratic nominee
* [http://www.johnkennedy.com/ John Kennedy for U.S. Senate] , Republican Candidate
* [http://www.hollisforsenate.com/ Hollis for Senate] , Republican Candidate;Other sites
* [http://www.truelandrieustory.com/ True Landrieu Story] anti-Landrieu site from the National Republican Senitorial Committee