Congresswoman JULIA LETLOW (courtesy of Julia Letlow)
It ended up being by a much smaller margin than originally expected. Nonetheless, Julia Letlow beat Jamie Davis in Louisiana’s U.S. Senate race, keeping that Senate seat in the Republican party. While many had expected Letlow to win by double digits, her final margin of victory ended up being only two points – 51 to 49%. Out of 1.46 million votes cast, Letlow beat Davis by less than 26,000 votes. LSU political science professor Robert Hogan says in the end, it ended up being more interesting for the Letlow campaign than what they had hoped for.
“There has been a great deal of concern about economic conditions and Donald Trump’s approval rating; it’s not as high as Republicans would like, so a lot of people may have started to question their support for Republicans,” Hogan explained.
Hogan says while this race did not result in a win for the Democrats, this is one which they can build on, especially given the lack of financial support it received from the national Democratic party. Hogan says while Davis will not be going to Washington, his strong showing may indicate that this won’t be the last Louisiana has heard from him.
“Democrats, I think, fielded a candidate in Jamie Davis, who is someone who I think probably has a future in the party; certainly, may have a future in statewide office,” Hogan noted.
As for the congressional races, the four incumbents – Steve Scalise, Troy Carter, Clay Higgins and Mike Johnson – all won their open primaries outright. Districts 5 and 6 will be decided in runoffs, both of which will feature a Republican and a Democrat. In District 6, Republican Blake Miguez will go up against Democrat Chauna Banks. Hogan says while Miguez will be heavily favored in the runoff, his showing in the primary could open the door a sliver for Banks.
“Blake Miguez did not see a win outright, in the sense that he had a huge financial advantage over his opponents; yet he’s only getting about one-out-of-five votes that were cast,” Hogan said.
And in District 5, Democrat Pat Moore will face Republican Gabe Firment.
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