Louisiana Senate

Vitter retirement shakes up Louisiana Senate race

By Kevin Robillard

Following his defeat to Democrat John Bel Edwards in Saturday's Louisiana gubernatorial election, GOP Sen. David Vitter announced that he will retire from the Senate next year, ensuring another busy year of campaigning in a state with no shortage of ambitious politicians.

Vitter's exit will set up an open-seat race in 2016, and the Republican side of the field is chock-full of potential candidates. GOP Reps. Charles Boustany and John Fleming, state Treasurer John Kennedy, retired Air Force Col. Rob Maness and Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle could all make bids. The Democratic picture is less clear: New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is the most obvious candidate, but he passed on a gubernatorial bid this year. Louisiana has all-party primaries.

"I've reached my personal term limit," Vitter said as he conceded the gubernatorial race. "I'm very confident we're going to elect another strong conservative to fill this Senate seat next year."

One thing is clear: After a big loss in a damaging gubernatorial contest, Vitter's decision to step aside increases Republicans' chances of holding his Senate seat.

Vitter's announcement likely comes as a relief to the National Republican Senatorial Committee, which has an obligation to protect incumbents and would rather devote its resources to swing states like Ohio, New Hampshire and Wisconsin than to helping a damaged red-state incumbent. Vitter is frequently a thorn in the side of the GOP leaders who control the campaign committee, but more importantly, Republicans would rather not have to spend money defending territory their presidential nominee is likely to carry by a double-digit margin.

Three of the potential Republican candidates — Boustany, Fleming and Kennedy — endorsed and campaigned with Vitter, hoping he would appoint them to fill his seat once he took control in Baton Rouge. It's unclear whether Vitter's unpopularity could rub off on those who backed him.

Boustany, an establishment-oriented member of the House Ways and Means Committee, has already declared his intention to run for the seat. He's stepped up his fundraising, hired a campaign manager and begun meeting with groups like the Chamber of Commerce. Fleming, thought to be the more conservative of the two, has similarly stepped up in the money chase. Boustany has $1.4 million on hand to Fleming's $2.3 million. Fleming's campaign account includes a $525,000 loan from the candidate.

Kennedy, who was a Democrat until 2007, won reelection to his fifth term as state treasurer with minimal opposition in October. He has run for Senate twice before, losing to Vitter as a Democrat in 2004 and losing to then-Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu as a Republican in 2008.

Kennedy spent about $1 million on television advertising for his non-competitive 2015 race in an effort to boost his name identification, and he still has about $2.5 million he could transfer to a federal super PAC set up to back him.

Angelle, who finished just 3 percentage points behind Vitter in the gubernatorial all-party primary election, could also choose to run for Boustany's House seat. But "Angelle for Senate" stickers have already begun appearing throughout the state, according to local media reports. Unlike the other potential candidates, Angelle was harshly critical of Vitter during the governor's race, even directing voters to a controversial blog posting stories about Vitter's prostitution scandal.

Angelle declined to endorse Vitter during the runoff, leading to an early swipe from a potential Senate rival.

"You’re either a conservative or you’re not. Scott needs to step up and tell us where he is," Kennedy told a local radio host, according to the Baton Rouge Advocate. "Let’s get real folks, a non-endorsement is an endorsement. That’s the bottom line. … If Scott wants to be president of the RINO club, there’s plenty of room," he said, using the acronym for the phrase Republican in Name Only.

An Angelle spokesman responded by noting Kennedy's long history as a Democrat, including backing John Kerry for president in 2004.

Maness, a tea party favorite, ran for Senate in 2014 but caught little traction in a three-way contest with now-Sen. Bill Cassidy and Mary Landrieu, earning just 13 percent of the vote. But Maness continued campaigning around the state and building political connections since the loss.

Edwards' victory may give Democrats an emotional boost heading into the Senate contest, but it's unlikely any Republican who emerges from the pack will be as damaged as Vitter. Landrieu lost her reelection bid by 12 percentage points just a year ago.