La. governor sent into runoff

Dixieland Democrat Edwards falls shy of majority in primary

BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards’ quest for a second term as the Deep South’s only Democratic governor will stretch over another month, as voters in his crimson state denied him a primary win Saturday and sent him to a runoff election.

The Democratic incumbent was unable to top 50 percent of the vote in the six-candidate field, raising questions about his re-election chances against a national Republican offensive that includes President Donald Trump. Trump made a last-minute appeal to Louisiana’s voters to reject Edwards.

Edwards will compete in the Nov. 16 runoff against one of two Republican contenders, U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham or businessman Eddie Rispone, who were vying for second place.

Three Republican statewide elected officials on the ballot won re-election to new four-year terms: Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Attorney General Jeff Landry and Treasurer John Schroder. Three other GOP incumbents also were seeking to hold on to their jobs, and voters were deciding four proposed constitutional changes.

Republicans sought to prove that Edwards’ long-shot victory in 2015 was a fluke aided by a flawed GOP opponent, David Vitter, who was hobbled by a prostitution scandal and attacks on his moral character from fellow Republicans in the primary.

Democrats want an Edwards re-election win to show they can compete even in a ruby-red state that Trump won by 20 points.

But the 53-year-old Edwards isn’t exactly a Democrat in the national mold.

The West Point graduate and former Army Ranger opposes abortion and gun restrictions, talks of working well with the Trump administration and calls the U.S. House Democrats’ impeachment inquiry a distraction to governing in Washington. He signed one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans.

Throughout his campaign, Edwards sought to make the election a referendum on his performance rather than a commentary on Louisiana views on national politics.

The Democratic incumbent contrasted three recent years of budget surpluses with the deficit-riddled terms of his predecessor, Republican Bobby Jindal. Edwards and the majority-GOP state Legislature passed a tax deal that stabilized state finances and allowed for new investments in public colleges and the first statewide teacher raise in a decade.

“When I took office, the state of Louisiana had the largest budget deficit in our history,” Edwards said. “We did the hard, bipartisan work necessary to right the ship, to strengthen our economy.”

John Bel Edwards