Republican John Kennedy is headed for a December runoff against Democrat Foster Campbell to determine who will become Louisiana’s newest senator.
Louisiana held its senate election on Tuesday in which 25 Democratic and Republican senatorial candidates ran against each other. Kennedy and Campbell managed to rise to the top of the field, beating a hodgepodge of candidates, including a former imperial wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
The top two vote getters, regardless of party affiliation, will advance to a runoff since none of the candidates garnered 50 percent of the vote. Kennedy and Campbell are jockeying to take over the Senate seat vacated by Republican Sen. David Vitter.
Kennedy led throughout most of the election, with Democrats Campbell and Caroline Fayard coming second and third, respectively.
Kennedy, who ran unsuccessful bids for Senate in 2004 and 2008 as a Democrat, was reelected to his fifth term as State Treasurer in 2015. His campaign platform included cuts in government spending, a repeal of Obamacare and cutting taxes for the middle class.
Campbell, who sat on the Public Service Commission, served seven uninterrupted terms in the Louisiana state Senate, and ran on a platform promising lower utility rates, protecting Obamacare, and increasing the state’s minimum wage. He received the backing of Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards.
David Duke, a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, jumped into the race early on but failed to gain much headway, despite trying several times to connect his candidacy to Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump.
Duke ran on ending “ethnic cleansing of America,” affirmative action programs, and the Internal Revenue Service.
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