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Louisiana U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister won’t run again in November
McAllister’s exit comes after video surfaced showing him kissing a female staffer outside his district office
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitcs.com editor
MONROE, Louisiana (CFP) — Three weeks after video surfaced showing him passionately kissing a female staffer, embattled Republican U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister has announced that he won’t seek re-election this fall.
U.S. Rep. Vance McAllister
However, despite calls from leading Louisiana Republicans and House Majority Leader Eric Cantor for his resignation, McAllister is vowing to serve out the remainder of his term.
“The people of the Fifth District of Louisiana need and deserve a voice in Washington,” McAllister said in a statement released April 28. “Today, I am announcing that I will not seek re-election, but I will continue to be that voice and will uphold the office to which I was elected to serve for the remainder of my term.”
“As I’ve said before, there’s no doubt I’ve made a mistake. I’ve failed those I care most about and let down the people who elected me to represent them. I take full responsibility for this personal failure, and I’m truly sorry for what I’ve done.”
The decision to hang on to his office ran into immediate opposition from Cantor, the No. 2 Republican in the House, who met with McAllister and told him he needed to resign, Politico reported.
McAllister, 40, a Christian conservative and married father of five, was elected to the vacant 5th District seat last November in his first bid for political office.
Both Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Roger Villere, chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party, have called on McAllister to resign.
U.S. Senator David Vitter to decide on Louisiana governor’s race in January
Vitter tells C-SPAN that Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal will run for White House in 2016
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com
WASHINGTON (CFP) — Republican U.S. Senator David Vitter says he will decide in January whether to seek Louisiana’s governorship in 2015.
U.S. Senator David Vitter
“We don’t have any hard deadline in mind, but I would expect we’ll come to a conclusion sometime in January,” Vitter told C-SPAN in a December 19 interview.
“It comes down to one key question …where I think I can make the most positive difference off of the remainder of my political life,” he said.
Vitter also said it is “very obvious” that his state’s current governor, Republican Bobby Jindal, will make a bid for the White House in 2016.
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal
“I do think he’ll run. I think he’s been running, and I think he’ll be a meaningful and signficant candidate,” said Vitter. However, the senator stopped short of endorsing Jindal, saying he has not yet thought ahead to the 2016 race.
Jindal, 42, elected in 2007 and re-elected in 2011, is term limited as governor.
Vitter, 52, said regardless of whether he runs for governor or stays in the Senate, it will be the last political office he holds. His Senate term runs until 2016.
Vitter also said he sees a “50-50 or better chance” that Republicans will take control of the Senate in 2014, which would make him the chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. However, he said the possibility of gaining the majority won’t be “a determining factor” in deciding whether to stay in the Senate or run for governor.
Because Louisiana holds its state elections in off years, Vitter could pursue the governorship without giving up his Senate seat.
If he runs for governor, Vitter will likely face a intra-party challenge from Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne, who has said he is also likely to run for governor and has already set up a campaign Web site.
In Louisiana, Vitter, Dardenne and all other candidates from any party run together in a single primary, with the top two vote getters vying in a runoff if no one gets a majority.
Two Democrats have also announced — Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell from Shreveport and State Rep. John Bel Edwards from Roseland. There has also been speculation that another prominent and popular Democrat, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu might make the governor’s race if he wins re-election in February.
Landrieu is the brother of Vitter’s seatmate in the Senate, U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu, who is up for re-election in 2014.
GOP businessman Vance McAllister wins House seat in Louisiana
McAllister easily beats fellow Republican State Senator Neil Riser in 5th District runoff
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolitics.com editor
MONROE, Louisiana (CFP) — Armed with an endorsement from the stars of Duck Dynasty, Republican businessman and political newcomer Vance McAllister easily won a special election for a vacant U.S. House seat in Louisiana.
U.S. Rep.-elect Vance McAllister
McAllister, 39, from Swartz, beat Republican State Senator Neil Riser, 51, of Columbia, by a 60-40 percent margin in the November 16 runoff. He will replace GOP U.S. Rep. Rodney Alexander, who resigned his seat after he was appointed by Governor Bobby Jindal to head the Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs.
Riser had finished first in the first round of voting on October 19, with 32 percent of the vote, setting up a runoff with McAllister, who captured 18 percent. Under Louisiana’s blanket primary system, candidates from all parties run in the same primary, which set up the battle between two Republicans in the heavily GOP district.
The 5th District takes in 24 parishes in northeastern and central Louisiana, including some parishes along the Mississippi River east of Baton Rouge.
Alexander, first elected as a Democrat in 2002, switched to the GOP in 2004. McAllister’s election keeps Louisiana’s House delegation steady at six Republicans and one Democrat.
Riser had the backing of Alexander and the state GOP establishment. But McAllister fought back by pouring more than $400,000 of his own money into the race and enlisting support from Willie and Jep Robertson, family friends and stars of the popular A&E series.
Both Robertsons cut ads for McAllister that aired during the runoff campaign.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley to launch re-election bid
First term Republican to announce 2014 re-election bid on August 26 in Greenville
♦By Rich Shumate, Chickenfriedpolics.com editor
GREENVILLE, S.C. (CFP) — South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley will announce her 2014 re-election bid on August 26 at a high-profile public event that will feature three of her fellow Republican governors, her campaign has confirmed.
The event in Greenville will include Texas Governor Rick Perry, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, along with U.S. Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, who Haley appointed to the Senate. Her campaign confirmed the event with the Greenville Times.
South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley
Haley, 41, is the first woman to serve as South Carolina’s chief executive and is currently the youngest governor of any state. Her bid for a second term has been widely expected.
Haley won a hotly contested Republican primary in 2010 with the backing of Tea Party groups and an endorsement from former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Despite the strong Republican tendencies in the Palmetto State, her general election win was surprisingly close, with Haley carrying just 51 percent of the vote.
Her Democratic opponent in 2010, State Senator Vincent Sheheen of Camden, plans a re-match.
Haley is the daughter of Sikh immigrants from India. She and Jindal are the nation’s first Indian-American governors.
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