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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."
Since I put up an earlier post on the prospects for this election I have a table I can paste in to show just how strong the sentiment was for Bush in Louisiana's 7th congressional district, which Chris John had held and Boustany has now won, it's a pretty solid Republican district, and I am now a little more proud to say I live there:
Presidential Vote in Louisiana's Seventh Congressional District*
| Parish |
Vote for Bush |
% for Bush |
Vote for Kerry |
% for Kerry |
| Acadia |
16,083 |
64% |
8,937 |
35% |
| Calcasieu |
46,058 |
58% |
32,844 |
41% |
| Cameron |
3,190 |
69% |
1,367 |
29% |
| Evangeline |
8,361 |
58% |
5,756 |
40% |
| Jefferson Davis |
8,064 |
61% |
4,845 |
37% |
| Lafayette |
57,730 |
64% |
31,205 |
35% |
| St. Landry |
18,314 |
50% |
18,162 |
49% |
| Vermillion |
15,069 |
61% |
9083 |
37% |
| Totals |
172,869 |
60% |
112,189 |
39% |
*
There were seven other minor candidates on the Louisiana presidential ballot whose results were negligible in the district, but whose total vote may account for some parish percentages adding up to less than 100%
Tauzin still could have won the third district race, where sentiment was almost as strong for Bush, if he had only done more to turn out his vote. But the purely negative nature of his campaign turned off voters and the good guys stayed home on election day.