La. Dem incumbent wins House runoff

[Rich Parsons]

La. Dem incumbent wins House runoff


http://www.yahoo.com/s/456543

NEW ORLEANS - U.S. Rep. William Jefferson (news, bio, voting record) easily defeated his fellow Democratic opponent in a runoff election Saturday, despite an ongoing federal bribery investigation.


In complete but unofficial returns, Jefferson, Louisiana's first black congressman since Reconstruction, received 57 percent of the vote over state Rep. Karen Carter, who had 43 percent.

 

[michaeledward]

It will be interesting to see the outcome of the investigation.

I understand that Speaker-elect Pelosi has stripped Representative Jefferson from any leadership, or even prominent roles since the beginning of the investigation.

The Louisiana election proceedures are a bit weird, though, aren't they? Only getting around to vote for their Rep now?

 

[Grenadier]

All of their congressional (both Representative and Senatorial) elections in LA are carried out this way. The general election is a free for all, with no real primaries. Thus, it's not unusual to see 5 Democrats and 5 Republicans, along with the Libertarian, Green, and yes, Socialist, candidates in a big free for all. Sometimes, though, a party will strongly urge the other candidates that aren't the favorite, to butt out.

If a candidate wins more than 50% of the vote in the general election, then he wins the seat outright. Otherwise, the top two vote getters go to a runoff in December, regardless of what their party affiliation was, and the winner of the runoff wins the seat.

On a side note of Louisiana politics, many a Democrat didn't like it when David Duke (even though he was a registered GOP'er) tossed his name into the general elections. He siphoned off a significant number of votes from the top Democratic candidate, which cost one particular candidate a shot in the runoff several years ago, when David Vitter and David Treen (both Republicans) ended up in the runoff. It was widely agreed that it would have been Vitter and the Democrat in the runoff, instead of Vitter and Treen, had the "Duke Factor" not been part of the equation.

That election shaped the Louisiana political front quite significantly, since Vitter used the congressional seat as a platform for getting the Senate seat.

 

[exile]

On a side note of Louisiana politics, many a Democrat didn't like it when David Duke (even though he was a registered GOP'er) tossed his name into the general elections.

Grenadier---this was David Duke of Ku Klux Klan `fame'?

 

[Grenadier]

Grenadier---this was David Duke of Ku Klux Klan `fame'?

Yes.