Tauzin loses votes in official tally

KLFY TV, Lafayette, Louisiana ^

[StJacques]

BATON ROUGE, La. An official count from the 13 parishes comprising Louisiana's Third Congressional District shows Billy Tauzin the Third lost ground.

Unofficial results from Saturday night's runoff between the Republican and Democrat Charles Melancon gave Melancon a 523-vote margin from more than 104-thousand votes cast.

The parishes opened their voting machines this morning. A survey by The Associated Press determined that Tauzin lost 62 votes, while Melancon gained one vote.

The parishes will send their tallies to the secretary of state, who will make the count official.

[StJacques]

Tauzin's loss is a big blow to us here in Louisiana. We came very close to locking down six out of the seven congressional districts for the Republican Party, now we must settle for five. We entered this year with four seats.

Tauzin ran one of the worst campaigns in recent memory here in Louisiana. In our General Primary on November 2 -- we have no political primaries -- he finished first and the sum total of votes for all Republican candidates was in the neighborhood of 57%. But during that primary campaign Tauzin sent a private mailing to Republican voters that accused a Republican opponent, Craig Romero of New Iberia, of something akin to a sodomy charge that left Romero and his backers enraged beyond words after they lost the runoff spot by less than 2% of the total vote. They turned on Tauzin and in the runoff election just held, his Democratic opponent Charles Melancon carried Iberia Parish [Romero's home parish] by a larger margin of votes than his victory in the entire race. Turnout was incredibly low district wide as well, which is in large part due to the purely negative nature of the campaign, as Tauzin never even attempted to establish a dialogue with voters and Melancon brought out details of a DWI conviction in Tauzin's past.

Even though we won a big one Saturday when Republican Charles Boustany of Lafayette -- my home town -- beat Democrat Willie Landry Mount to take away the 7th congressional district seat that had been held by Democrat Chris John, the Tauzin loss is a great disappointment, because we could have just sewn up this state's congressional delegation for the Republican Party for good. We came so close.

[taxesareforever]

Isn't it surprising how the Republican candidates seem to always lose votes in a recount (Ref:Washington State)?

[Brilliant]

The fix is in.

[Guillermo]

Says who?

A pro-life Democrat won, fair and square.

[Brilliant]

Let's see how he votes. Kerry is also "pro-life."

[Guillermo]

There were 2 counts, he lost them both.

It's up to Tauzin to prove there was fraud.

If he can prove it, then give him the seat. If he can't, then it's time to move on.

[Cicero]

I don't know anything much about this race except what I've seen here, but I gather that Tauzin is a poor excuse for a candidate whose family connection is the only reason he was nominated. Although it's regretable to lose a Republican seat, it may be a good thing in the long run if Billy Tauzin leaves politics for some other line of business. Maybe next time they can find someone more qualified for the job.

[Brilliant]

Even if there was fraud, they'll move on.

[goldensky]

All in all, 2004 was a remarkable year for LA republicans. Bush and Vitter won, we have five of seven house seats, and the winning democrat ran commercials promising he was pro-life, anti gay marriage and has a 100% rating from the NRA. Plus, Blanco keeps the national party at arm's length. LA will eventually be as conservative as the rest of the South. Well done, LA freepers, you should be proud.

[SwinneySwitch]

It's up to Tauzin to prove there was fraud.

If demonrats control the voting, there is fraud, GAURANTEED!

[AuH2ORepublican]

The seat was Billy Tauzin III's to lose, and he proceeded to do just that. I hope every Republican in the district rallies around state Senator Romero in 2006 and we can retake the district, thus controlling 6 of the 7 House seats in Louisiana.

I recall how some FReepers were saying that Senator John Breaux could basically walk on water in Lousiana, and that his endorsement was worth its weight in gold, using the narrow wins during the past couple of years by Mary Landrieu and Kathleen Blanco in 2002 and 2003, respectively, as evidence. But this year Breaux endorsed young Billy in the 3rd CD, Chris John in the Senate race, and Zelma Blakes in the 5th CD (and maybe Willie Mount in the 7th CD as well), and they all lost. Seems like the Breaux endorsement wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

[StJacques]

"There were 2 counts, he lost them both.
It's up to Tauzin to prove there was fraud.
If he can prove it, then give him the seat. If he can't, then it's time to move on."

Tauzin lost this race legitimately, or at legitimately as far as the counting of votes goes. There are always fraudulent votes cast in Louisiana, but since Tauzin's district does not include New Orleans, it was a minor factor.

[StJacques]

". . . it may be a good thing in the long run if Billy Tauzin leaves politics for some other line of business. Maybe next time they can find someone more qualified for the job."

In Louisiana, the strength of incumbency is very strong. Once you win a seat you own it, unless you are markedly outside the mainstream. Melancon and the Democratic Party now own this seat until he retires. And that really is a shame because the 3rd congressional district was the first one in Louisiana to elect a Republican in modern times, when Dave Treen was elected in 1972. We held the seat for at least sixteen years since then.

About the only incumbent in Washington from Louisiana who I consider vulnerable is Mary Landrieu, and we are going to go after her big time four years from now.

[gbunch]

I hope every Republican in the district rallies around state Senator Romero in 2006 and we can retake the district, thus controlling 6 of the 7 House seats in Louisiana.

I hope we take the seat, but not with Romero. Every source I've seen says he endorsed Babblin' Blank-o for governor. I failed to find one single shred of evidence to refute it. That to me says it all. No true Republican would endorse her over Bobby Jindal.

[StJacques]

". . . that Senator John Breaux could basically walk on water in Lousiana, and that his endorsement was worth its weight in gold . . . this year Breaux endorsed . . . and maybe Willie Mount in the 7th CD as well . . . "

Yes, he did endorse Willie Mount, who ran the TV ad with Breaux talking to voters continuously, and his endorsement should have carried more weight in the 7th congressional district than anywhere else, since this is Breaux's home district. Not only did the Republican Charles Boustany win the race 55% - 45% but even Breaux's home town (Crowley) and home parish (Acadia) went for Boustany by something approaching 60% of the vote if my memory serves me correctly.

But John Breaux is very well respected by Republicans here in Louisiana, and the La. Freepers who have pointed this out have not been off base. It's just that nobody's endorsement really counts for much anymore.

[StJacques]

"I hope we take the seat, but not with Romero. . . ."

Romero is the Louisiana version of a RINO. I don't ever want him to run for anything again, not even for reelection to his State Senator's job.

[Dog Gone]

The Louisiana results were just the opposite of what I had expected from my out of state perspective. I thought Tauzin would win on name recognition, and I thought they would hold John's seat.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I hope we take the seat, but not with Romero. Every source I've seen says he endorsed Babblin' Blank-o for governor."

---

You're right, state Senator Craig Romero did endorse Blanco in the 2003 gubernatorial election. But so did Congressman Rodney Alexander, and we welcomed him with open arms when he switched to the GOP a few months ago. I think we need to keep in mind that party affiliation isn't as important in Louisiana as it is in most other parts of the nation, and I would have no problem supporting a strongly conservative Republican such as Romero if he ran again in 2006. Anyhow, here's the story of his endorsement of Blanco:

"State party officials and Tauzin loyalists have been circulating a November 2003 article from a New Iberia newspaper, The Daily Iberian, that detailed Romero's support of Blanco. He was quoted by the paper as saying Blanco, a native of nearby Lafayette, better understood the need to dig deeper shipping channels in Port Iberia.

"We have to vote for the future of our area and support this candidate," he said.

Blanco went on to win the two parishes represented by Romero -- Iberia, where he was once parish president, and neighboring St. Martin -- by a combined 10,085 votes. That was about 20 percent of her statewide margin of victory in the Nov. 15 runoff, 55,000 votes out of 1.4 million cast.

"A Republican senator coming out for a Democrat nominee -- a little thing like that can make a big difference," said Timmy Teepel, spokesman for Jindal's current campaign for the 1st Congressional District seat. "But Bobby's focused on his race now. He's looking forward, not backward." Romero said Wednesday that Blanco is a distant relative and that "family is more important to politics." He pointed out that U.S. Sen. John Breaux of Louisiana, a Democrat and godfather of Billy Tauzin III, was present at the younger Tauzin's candidacy announcement this year.

Romero added that soon after Blanco took office, he lost his post as chairman of the Senate Natural Resources Committee.

"If I am so close to Kathleen Blanco, why am I no longer chairman?" he said."

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