Brett Duke
Bill Cassidy has done what Republicans have tried nearly 20 years to accomplish. He's beaten Mary Landrieu to become Louisiana's next United States senator.
Cassidy won 56 percent to 44 percent, with all precincts reporting. Speaking from the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Baton Rouge, Cassidy, with his wife and family by his side, thanked voters for their support and said he looked forward to representing them in Washington.
"This victory belongs to you. This victory happened because the people in Louisiana voted for a government that serves you and doesn't tell us what to do," Cassidy told an enthusiastic crowd.
A doctor by trade, Cassidy spent most of his professional life working in the LSU charity hospital system. He served in the Louisiana Senate about two years before he was elected to Congress in 2008 over incumbent Democrat Don Cazayoux. He has represented the Baton Rouge-based 6th Congressional District ever since.
Cassidy rode a wave of Republican support that swept the nation during the midterm elections. Voters in Louisiana were angry with President Barack Obama and his policies, particularly the Affordable Care Act. Cassidy used Landrieu's vote for the law against her to motive people to oust her from office.
His ads hammered home the message. "She represents Barack Obama. I represent you." "A vote for her is a vote for him." "Remember: Mary Landrieu... Barack Obama... 97 percent."
Landrieu, who has served for three terms, attempted to make the race about her record of delivering for the state, but she couldn't shake the Obama connection. Saturday's election might have brought an end to her political career that began in the Louisiana legislature when she was just 25 years old. The daughter of former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu, she has spent her entire life in the public eye as a member of one of the state's most prominent families.
"I just called Congressman Cassidy to congratulate him after a long and tough campaign, I told him that representing the people of this state is the greatest honor that anyone could ever have," Landrieu said.
But in a slap at Cassidy for refusing to engage in more than one runoff debate and more give an take on the campaign trail, Landrieu said she proud that "our campaign was open and accessible to the voters."
Landrieu expressed pride in her 34-year record as an elected official, saying she worked with "courage, honestly and integrity and delivered for this state when it mattered most in some of our darkest hours -- Katrina, Rita and Isaac."Cassidy's win signifies the complete change of the Deep South and Louisiana into Republican strongholds.
Cassidy thanked Landrieu for her years of service to the state.
Landrieu's seat was the last to fall and now the GOP controls all U.S. Senate seats, governors offices and state legislatures in the Deep South. Cassidy is just the second Republican in Louisiana elected to the Senate since Reconstruction, the first being Sen. David Vitter in 2004.
Republicans now hold every statewide elected office in Louisiana. Landrieu's seat has been a top priority for them since she was first elected in 1996. Each election she supposed to lose, yet she managed to pull out the victory. Except for Saturday, of course.
"If you look at how far the Republican Party has come in the last decade, it's a pretty big exclamation mark," said LAGOP executive director Jason Dore. "It marks the beginning of a new Republican era in Louisiana."
Cassidy's path to victory was due in no small part to his ability to unify the party. Cassidy and the Republican leadership made it very clear from the beginning of the race last year that he would be the chosen candidate. The tactic cleared the field for all except one major candidate, retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness who ran underneath the Tea Party banner.
Maness' votes in the primary likely cost Cassidy a win a month ago, and questions lingered into the runoff about whether Maness' staunch conservative supporters would go back to the polls in December for Cassidy, a man they believed to be a liberal because of his previous life as a Democrat and supporter of Kathleen Blanco and, yes, even Landrieu.
But Maness quickly endorsed Cassidy and appeared with him on the campaign trail. Numerous potential Republican presidential candidates like Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal as well as national conservative figures like Sarah Palin and Phil Robertson stumped for Cassidy at unity rallies in an effort to show voters Republicans of every stripe were committed to Cassidy.
"The goal early on was to defeat Mary Landrieu. [Uniting the party] took political courage and the will to step up and win after a primary like we had," Maness said.
Rep. Paul Hollis, R-Metairie, who considered running for the seat himself before backing Cassidy. said Cassidy was the right choice for the Republicans because of his medical background and how he can use it to solve the problems that came with Obamacare. He said 20 years ago, Louisiana liked entertaining politicians. Now, they want practical leaders.
"If Obamacare is dismantled, as I hope it is, it's important to have a physician who brings the skill set needed to solve the numerous problems that will result," Hollis said.
Cassidy recognized both their efforts and brought them onto the stage with him for his victory speech.
Gov. Bobby Jindal issued a statement congratulating Cassidy on the win.
"Tonight, Louisianians rejected the rigid liberal ideology of President Obama and Mary Landrieu. The President was right, his policies were on the ballot this year, and Mary Landrieu is those policies' latest victim," Jindal said.
Cassidy and the next Congress will be sworn in in early January. His election adds to the Republican majority in the Senate. Coupled with the Republican majority in the House, Cassidy will play a role in trying to shift the president toward the right in order for anything to get accomplished in Washington.
Vitter, who has campaigned for Cassidy since the beginning of the race, said he's looking forward to working alongside Cassidy in Washington.
"All of you, because you turned frustration into action, all of you made history tonight by electing Bill Cassidy as our next senator," Vitter said.
Cassidy has already voted on a House bill aimed at combating Obama's immigration executive order. He'll also prioritize building the Keystone pipeline, which didn't pass in the Senate in a very public and costly failure for Landrieu to begin the runoff election.
"We want our country to go in a conservative direction where the patient has the power, not the bureaucrat," Cassidy said. "This was an American victory."
"This victory belongs to you. This victory happened because the people in Louisiana voted for a government that serves you and doesn't tell us what to do," Cassidy told an enthusiastic crowd.
A doctor by trade, Cassidy spent most of his professional life working in the LSU charity hospital system. He served in the Louisiana Senate about two years before he was elected to Congress in 2008 over incumbent Democrat Don Cazayoux. He has represented the Baton Rouge-based 6th Congressional District ever since.
Cassidy rode a wave of Republican support that swept the nation during the midterm elections. Voters in Louisiana were angry with President Barack Obama and his policies, particularly the Affordable Care Act. Cassidy used Landrieu's vote for the law against her to motive people to oust her from office.
His ads hammered home the message. "She represents Barack Obama. I represent you." "A vote for her is a vote for him." "Remember: Mary Landrieu... Barack Obama... 97 percent."
Landrieu, who has served for three terms, attempted to make the race about her record of delivering for the state, but she couldn't shake the Obama connection. Saturday's election might have brought an end to her political career that began in the Louisiana legislature when she was just 25 years old. The daughter of former New Orleans Mayor Moon Landrieu, she has spent her entire life in the public eye as a member of one of the state's most prominent families.
"I just called Congressman Cassidy to congratulate him after a long and tough campaign, I told him that representing the people of this state is the greatest honor that anyone could ever have," Landrieu said.
But in a slap at Cassidy for refusing to engage in more than one runoff debate and more give an take on the campaign trail, Landrieu said she proud that "our campaign was open and accessible to the voters."
Landrieu expressed pride in her 34-year record as an elected official, saying she worked with "courage, honestly and integrity and delivered for this state when it mattered most in some of our darkest hours -- Katrina, Rita and Isaac."Cassidy's win signifies the complete change of the Deep South and Louisiana into Republican strongholds.
Cassidy thanked Landrieu for her years of service to the state.
Landrieu's seat was the last to fall and now the GOP controls all U.S. Senate seats, governors offices and state legislatures in the Deep South. Cassidy is just the second Republican in Louisiana elected to the Senate since Reconstruction, the first being Sen. David Vitter in 2004.
Republicans now hold every statewide elected office in Louisiana. Landrieu's seat has been a top priority for them since she was first elected in 1996. Each election she supposed to lose, yet she managed to pull out the victory. Except for Saturday, of course.
"If you look at how far the Republican Party has come in the last decade, it's a pretty big exclamation mark," said LAGOP executive director Jason Dore. "It marks the beginning of a new Republican era in Louisiana."
Cassidy's path to victory was due in no small part to his ability to unify the party. Cassidy and the Republican leadership made it very clear from the beginning of the race last year that he would be the chosen candidate. The tactic cleared the field for all except one major candidate, retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness who ran underneath the Tea Party banner.
Maness' votes in the primary likely cost Cassidy a win a month ago, and questions lingered into the runoff about whether Maness' staunch conservative supporters would go back to the polls in December for Cassidy, a man they believed to be a liberal because of his previous life as a Democrat and supporter of Kathleen Blanco and, yes, even Landrieu.
But Maness quickly endorsed Cassidy and appeared with him on the campaign trail. Numerous potential Republican presidential candidates like Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Perry and Bobby Jindal as well as national conservative figures like Sarah Palin and Phil Robertson stumped for Cassidy at unity rallies in an effort to show voters Republicans of every stripe were committed to Cassidy.
"The goal early on was to defeat Mary Landrieu. [Uniting the party] took political courage and the will to step up and win after a primary like we had," Maness said.
Rep. Paul Hollis, R-Metairie, who considered running for the seat himself before backing Cassidy. said Cassidy was the right choice for the Republicans because of his medical background and how he can use it to solve the problems that came with Obamacare. He said 20 years ago, Louisiana liked entertaining politicians. Now, they want practical leaders.
"If Obamacare is dismantled, as I hope it is, it's important to have a physician who brings the skill set needed to solve the numerous problems that will result," Hollis said.
Cassidy recognized both their efforts and brought them onto the stage with him for his victory speech.
Gov. Bobby Jindal issued a statement congratulating Cassidy on the win.
"Tonight, Louisianians rejected the rigid liberal ideology of President Obama and Mary Landrieu. The President was right, his policies were on the ballot this year, and Mary Landrieu is those policies' latest victim," Jindal said.
Cassidy and the next Congress will be sworn in in early January. His election adds to the Republican majority in the Senate. Coupled with the Republican majority in the House, Cassidy will play a role in trying to shift the president toward the right in order for anything to get accomplished in Washington.
Vitter, who has campaigned for Cassidy since the beginning of the race, said he's looking forward to working alongside Cassidy in Washington.
"All of you, because you turned frustration into action, all of you made history tonight by electing Bill Cassidy as our next senator," Vitter said.
Cassidy has already voted on a House bill aimed at combating Obama's immigration executive order. He'll also prioritize building the Keystone pipeline, which didn't pass in the Senate in a very public and costly failure for Landrieu to begin the runoff election.
"We want our country to go in a conservative direction where the patient has the power, not the bureaucrat," Cassidy said. "This was an American victory."
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