Meet the Candidates: Winners of the Congressional Primaries in Louisiana [1]
Submitted by Conor Kenny [2] on
(For a full list of candidates, see the Louisiana [3] portal.)
By Congresspedia assistant editor Avelino Maestas [4]
Louisiana [3] finally held their primaries on Saturday, which had been delayed from their original September 6th date by Hurricane Gustav. Under Louisiana's system, only congressional candidates who win 50.1% in the primary move on to the general election. In the 2nd and 4th congressional districts, no one reached that threshold and a run-off primary will be held for their candidates on Election Day, November 4th, with the general election following on December 6th.
The 2nd district is home to Rep. William Jefferson [5] (D-La.), who only won 25% of the vote on Saturday and will now face TV anchorwoman Helena Moreno [6] in the Democratic runoff on November 4. The winner will be up against Republican nominee Anh Cao [7] on December 6th. That may be inconvenient for Jefferson, however, because he is scheduled to head to trial on federal corruption charges on December 2nd (full details here [5]).
In the 4th congressional district, where Rep. Jim McCrery [8] is retiring, two runoffs are required. Republicans John Fleming Jr. [9] and Chris D. Gorman [10] survived the primary, as did Democrats Willie Banks Jr. [11] and Paul Carmouche [12]. Both parties will have runoffs on November 4, with the winners squaring off in December.
In the 1st, 3rd, 5th, 6th and 7th districts, the parties' nominees gained a majority of the vote and citizens will choose their representative when they cast presidential ballots on November 4.
Also, one of the country’s most closely-watched Senate races is playing out in Louisiana, where Sen. Mary Landrieu [13] (D) is fighting to retain her seat. However, recent trendlines show her pulling ahead with a double-digit lead over Republican nominee and state treasurer John Kennedy [14] (R), once considered the GOP’s best chance for flipping a Senate seat this cycle.
As part of Congresspedia's Wiki the Vote [15] project, citizen journalists from around the country (and even some candidates!) have been logging information about the candidates' positions, biographies and records. A full list of the candidates and their professions are below, but you can also find them at their respective state portals via the Wiki the Vote project homepage [15]. We need your help to find out more about these candidates, so if you know something about them please add it to their profile. (You can always contact [16] one of the staff editors for help.)
Here are the victors of Kansas [17]’s primaries:
- Sen. Mary Landrieu [13] (D) is running against Republican John Kennedy [14], the state treasurer.
- In the 1st district, incumbent Rep. Steve Scalise [18], a Democrat is being challenged by Jim Harlan [19], director of Applied Energetics.
- In the 3rd district, Democratic incumbent Rep. Charlie Melancon [20] is unopposed.
- In the 5th district, incumbent Rep. Rodney Alexander [21], a Republican, is unopposed.
- In the 6th district, incumbent Rep. Don Cazayoux [22] (D) is being challenged by state Senator Bill Cassidy [23] (R) .
- In the 7th district, Republican incumbent Rep. Charles Boustany [24] is running against Democratic nominee Donald R. Cravins, Jr. [25], a state senator.