RESULTS: Louisiana SoS | NoLA.com
11:23PM: What an ideal match-up this is. Democrats have an affable candidate whose socially conservative credentials suit his district well, while the Republicans are stuck with this fool:
A Jenkins-Cazayoux face-off would be a tough fight.
Cazayoux has raised more money than Jenkins and does not carry the political baggage, but Jenkins is a well-known personage in Louisiana and served 28 years in the state House. Jenkins narrowly lost a 1996 Senate race against Democrat Mary Landrieu.
In 2002, the Federal Elections Commission fined Jenkins for illegally concealing his purchase of a phone bank tied to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. In the 1980s, Jenkins was aligned with Oliver North, a figure in the Iran-Contra scandal, through a charity Jenkins ran called the Friends of the Americas, which sent medical supplies to Central America.
With press like that, it’s hard not to feel good about this one, isn’t it?
11:16PM: 511 of 512 precincts reporting. Cazayoux: 56.79% (19,756); Jackson: 43.21% (15,034).
Jenkins: 61.96% (15,162); Calongne: 38.04% (9,308).
11:07PM: 488 of 512 precincts reporting. Cazayoux still has a 58%-42% lead. Let’s tally up the ballots so far: 32,980 Dem and 23,596 GOP votes. Pretty nice.
10:55PM: Haw haw! Jackson now has 13,401 votes to Jenkins’ 12,845. The NRCC has some work to do here, methinks.
10:52PM: 447 precincts reporting. Cazayoux has a 58%-42% lead over Jackson. Here’s a fun fact: the loser of tonight’s Democratic primary, Michael Jackson, has nearly as many votes as the winner of tonight’s Republican primary, Woody Jenkins. (12,822 to 12,672 so far)
10:38PM: 424 of 512 precincts reporting. Cazayoux is sitting pretty with a 60%-40% lead. 28,619 Democratic and 20,534 Republican ballots have been counted so far. Lookin’ good.
10:32PM: 365 precincts reporting. Cazayoux’s lead has tightened to 64%-36%. With the outstanding precincts being from the East Baton Rouge Parish, expect this margin to tighten up a bit, but it won’t be enough to make too huge of dent.
10:25PM: Man, it amazes me to say this, but I can’t believe that the Louisiana GOP fielded this crop of sadsack losers to defend a vulnerable open seat like this one.
10:14PM: 309 precincts reporting. Total votes so far: 20,343 Democratic and 16,403 Republican ballots.
10:09PM: 258 precincts reporting. Cazayoux’s 70%-30% lead is holding steady, while Jenkins is up 60%-40% over on the GOP side of the fence. 17673 Democratic and 13577 GOP votes have been counted so far.
9:58PM: 175 precincts reporting. Cazayoux has a commanding 70%-30% lead over Jackson, and Jenkins is holding steady on the GOP side. So far, 12654 Democratic and 9549 Republican ballots have been counted.
9:51PM: 111 of 512 precincts reporting. Cazayoux is up 71%-29% over Jackson, while Jenkins is leading 61%-39% in the GOP primary.
9:45PM: 70 of 512 precincts reporting. Cazayoux has a 68%-32% lead over Jackson, with most of Baton Rouge still counting ballots. Let’s look at turnout: So far, 6306 Democratic votes and 3696 Republican votes have been counted. Sure, some of this could be attributed to Dixiecrat overhang, but I’ll take it.
9:37PM: 22 of 512 precincts reporting. Cazayoux has a 64%-36% lead, while Jenkins leans Calongne by roughly the same margin. Democrats are also opening up a significant turnout gap here.
9:26PM: With 2 of 512 precincts reporting, Cazayoux has a 73%-27% lead over Jackson. Jenkins is at 63% on the GOP side. Turnout is roughly even so far.
Polls are now closed in the run-off elections to decide the Dem and GOP nominees in the special election to replace retiring Rep. Richard Baker (R). We’ll be tracking the returns as they come in.
State Rep. Don Cazayoux (D) has raised and spent more money than his primary opponent, state Rep. Michael Jackson, but Jackson’s base is in the more populous Baton Rouge while Cazayoux hails from the more rural Pointe Coupee Parish. Still, Cazayoux has to be considered the favorite tonight for the Democratic nomination.
On the GOP side, both candidates are decidedly second tier (and that’s being generous): Christian activist and community publisher Woody Jenkins (famous for, uh, losing elections), and lobbyist Linda Calongne.
As Jeremiah notes in the comments below, turnout will be worth watching tonight.
Just checked Burns and Scalise’s websites.
Scalise has the Club for Growth endorsement, so we know who is the less crazy of the two guys. So, go Burns, I guess?
We’re sitting at about a 1 to 1 count for Democrats versus Republicans so far. I’m watching that tonight.
1025-418 Cazayoux
948-558 Jenkins
835-677 Scalise
Absentee count from Pointe Coupee: 185-10 Cazayoux.. seems about right.
I wish everyone was as good as Louisiana is tonight.
Democrats total – 34,790
Republicans total – 24,480
We lost a lot of votes between the first primary and this one. Not good. Repubs didn’t lose as much. I hope the DCCC dips in here and pulls up the KKK connection to rally African Americans behind Cayazoux in the last week or two of the race.
I’m looking forward to the Democrats spending at least $1 million here. If they was win in Louisiana, it will be a huge blow to the Republicans. And if they can force the Republicans to spend $1 to $2 million in the process, all the better. Hell, the Democrats could spend more money in this race than the Republicans have. Image seeing that and knowing they are coming for you in November.