After Steve Scalise won the special election this spring with over 75% of the vote, most Democrats wrote off this election for November. That is, until Jim Harlan stepped up to the plate. With a large personal fortune to invest, Harlan has been running one of the DCCC’s “Emerging Races” and one of SSP’s “Races to Watch.”
Things just got a whole lot more interesting. Via e-mail:
Jim asked us to send you some secret campaign information asap, before it hits the papers. I think you will be pleased.
Jim has moved to within 11 points of Steve Scalise after starting from 53 points behind. Now, Scalise is 8 points below 50% – a devastating position for any incumbent but a particularly big problem for Scalise who has only been in office since the Spring of 2008 and only won with 33,000 total votes.
Some quick arithmetic points to a 42-31 race. That’s certainly winnable, especially as Harlan hits Scalise hard on hurricane relief:
Things are looking good in Louisiana.