Okay, it’s not quite the magnitude of tonight’s earth-mover in the IL-14. But given how Republican this district is, these numbers can’t be doing anything to ease the heartburn the GOP must be feeling this evening.
Details under the fold:
Louisiana’s Sixth Congressional District includes the state capital, and has been in Republican hands since 1975. For the past 22 years, the seat was held by Richard Baker, who stepped down on February 1 of this year to become President and CEO of the Managed Funds Association, which represents the hedge fund industry. The $1 million-plus salary and benefits package Baker is set to receive in this job must be looking even better this evening given the fresh reminder of just how dismal things are looking for congressional Republicans.
But we in the LA-06 also voted today, in a special primary to select the candidates that will face off next month May 3 to fill Baker’s seat. This was a "closed" primary; however, independents and people registered with parties not recognized in Louisiana were allowed to vote in the Democratic primary, while only registered Republicans could vote on the other side.
But as we’ve seen so many times during this primary season, if you look at the turnout numbers in this "red" district, it seems possible that Baker’s seat may end up getting "Fostered" next month in May as well.
With 70% of precincts reporting, votes for the five Democratic candidates total 32,607. The four Republican candidates together got 20,020 votes.
On the Democratic side, State Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads is leading by a comfortable margin, although he appears headed into an April 5 runoff with Michael Jackson, state representative from Baton Rouge. With nearly 13,000 votes, Cazayoux alone nets about 65% of the total number of votes cast for all four Republicans combined. He also bests the likely Republican winner Woody Jenkins by nearly 3,000 votes despite facing one more challenger than Jenkins had.
Baker’s former chief of staff Paul Sawyer looks like he’s getting his clock cleaned by Jenkins, despite Sawyer’s attack ads which tied Jenkins to David Duke. As of right now, Sawyer is running third behind Jenkins and wingnut Laurinda Calongne, who ran as the anti-illegal immigration candidate while promoting herself as a "God-fearing churchgoer".
This was predicted to be a light turnout election, but even here in this Republican-heavy district, many more Dems than Republicans decided to take time out of this beautiful, cool and sunny day to go to the polls. After the Republicans recover from their post-IL-14 hangover, they might be waking up with a dull LA-06 headache.
Update: 84% reporting. Dem vote total: 40,018; Republican: 24,597. Cazayoux still leads Jackson, but still looks like a runoff. Jenkins right at 50%, so maybe a runoff there too, which is fine. Let Woody spend some money fending off Calongne.
Update 2: 94% reporting. Dem vote total: 44,685; Republican: 28,416. Cazayoux/Jackson runoff all but certain. Cazayoux still has almost 2,000 more votes than Republican winner Jenkins, who right now has 50.08%. Keep your fingers crossed for a Woody/Church Lady runoff so Woody can spend some cash!
Update 3, 100% reporting. Dem vote total: 47,461; Republican: 29,782, so about 60% more people voted in the Democratic primary than in the Republican. Cazayoux, with 35% of the vote, is in a runoff with Jackson (27%). Cazayoux had 1,747 more votes than Republican winner Jenkins; Cazayoux and Jackson combined had nearly twice as many votes as Jenkins. And Woody Jenkins finishes with 49.86% of the vote, so he's also in a runoff, denying him the advantage he would have had against the Dems with an outright win. Plus it's kind of sweet that Woody's runoff opponent Laurinda Calongne got little more than half the number of votes he did, so he's forced to waste precious campaign cash responding to pesky attacks from a relatively weak challenger. But thems the rules!