President Donald Trump failed in his national reelection effort but once again won Louisiana handily, less than a year after Democrat Governor John Bel Edwards eked out a reelection win.
UL Lafayette Poli Sci Professor Pearson Cross says the President’s ten-point gain on Eddie Rispone’s 2019 numbers are a great reminder of the split between local and national politics.
“I think the illustration of that is David Vitter who did quite well running for the Senate to be in Washington but when he turned around and tried to run in the state of Louisiana he really had some problems, he was viewed differently,” said Cross.
Trump won a near-identical 58 percent of the vote in both 2016 and 2020. Edwards won 51 percent.
Edwards won the classically Republican suburban stronghold of Jefferson Parish by 14 points in 2019, but in 2020 Trump once again comfortably won the parish.
“Abortion is a really big issue here, your position on the second amendment is a really big issue here, being one of us is a really big issue here and John Bel Edwards could check all of those boxes,” said Cross. “John Bel Edwards was able to exploit some things in the state in terms of his positions on hot-topic issues that helped him in Louisiana.”
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