With filing deadlines having elapsed in pretty much every state of the Union, it seemed as if there were no more candidate surprises emerging in the 2010 election cycle.
Then again...
There are no shortage of conservatives in Louisiana who'd like to retire David Vitter. But late [Friday] afternoon, one prominent Republican decided to make a go of it, entering the race at the last possible moment to take on the scandal-plagued senator in the GOP primary this August.
Meet Chet Traylor, a former Louisiana Supreme Court Justice well-connected in Louisiana Republican political and business circles circles, who surprised everyone this afternoon by qualifying at the witching hour to challenge Vitter.
Traylor made it to the bench courtesy of the Louisiana business lobby, which gives Vitter-haters the thin reed of hope that he can gather the resources necessary to mount a legitimate challenge. The primary is one of the last ones on the 2010 electoral calendar. The primary is due up on Saturday, August 28th, with a potential runoff for October 2nd. It is a longshot, but there is a thin chance of a runoff becoming necessary, as a third Republican candidate did file: Nick Accardo, who ran for Congress as an Independent way back in 1994, garnering just 24% of the vote.
What this means, in the short term, is that Vitter is going to have to expend some resources before he goes heads-up with the likely Democratic nominee: south Louisiana Congressman Charlie Melancon.
The fact that prominent GOP names like Secretary of State Jay Dardenne had been floated as Senate candidates seems to hint that there is a substantial appetite in the state for another Republican standard bearer rather than the scandal-challenged incumbent.
Traylor is pretty unlikely to have made the leap, especially at this late hour, without some high-profile advocates waiting in the wings. According to TPMDC writer Brian Beutler, Traylor was already making the rounds with a consultant who was instrumental in Mike Foster's out-of-nowhere 1995 effort that resulted in him being elected Governor.
Ideologically, Traylor is likely to be as odious as Vitter, so it is doubtful that Democrats are rooting for an upset win for the challenger. But anything that softens Vitter up for the general election is good news for Melancon, who recent polling shows can use all the help he can get.
UPDATE: According to Taegan Goddard, the AP is also reporting that Vitter drew a potentially legitimate Independent challenge from the right as well, in the form of former sheriff Ernest Wooton.