The Story:
On Saturday, November 16, voters in Louisiana re-elected John Bel Edwards (D) as their Governor. This comes despite President Trump’s vociferous support for Edwards’ Republican opponent, Eddie Rispone. This juxtaposition, combined with the defeat of another Trump favorite in the Kentucky Governor’s race eleven days before, has created a sense that the political tide in the US has turned in an anti-Trump direction.
The Numbers:
As foreseen by all the polls in the days before the voting, the count was a nail-biter. Edwards won due to the strength of his support in and around New Orleans. He ended the night with 51% of the vote, to Rispone’s 49%.
Edwards boasted during the campaign that he had brought Louisiana from budget deficit to budget surplus.
The Thing to Know:
Edwards is politically well to the ‘right’ of the national Democratic Party, on a number of issues. He is against abortion rights and in favor of Second Amendment rights. He is also proudly associated with the US military: a West Point graduate who completed the US Army’s Airborne School in 1986. His re-election may strengthen the case within the Democratic Party that what the party needs, nationally, is a greater number of candidates like him.
