Jeff Landry win huge for La.'s GOP

While one of St. Martin Parish’s favorite sons fell out during the primary, another went on to a smashing runoff victory in an important statewide office.
Jeff Landry, Louisiana’s attorney general-elect, is a resident of New Iberia but St. Martinville remains his hometown.
The other St. Martin favorite son was of course state Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle of Breaux Bridge, who came in third behind Edwards and U.S. Sen. David Vitter in the Oct. 24 gubernatorial primary.
Landry went on to topple two-term incumbent Buddy Caldwell in Saturday’s runoff election with a 12-point margin of victory.
It was an especially important victory for the state’s Republican Party, which lost the governorship to Democrat John Bel Edwards by the same healthy margin.
Although Caldwell also had an “R” behind his name, he was one of a number of relatively recent converts whose idiological purity, fairly or unfairly, occasionally came into question. Caldwell shifted party allegiance in 2011, prior to his reelection campaign, at a time when a number of Louisiana Democrats were crossing over. The list includes state Senate President John Alario of Westwego, a stalwart in the first (Edwin W.) Edwards administration.
Landry, a one-term congressman who cemented his Tea Party creds by flashing a DRILLING = JOBS sign at President Barack Obama’s jobs speech in 2011, was endorsed over Caldwell by the Republican Party of Louisiana back in July.
Ironically, in his acceptance speech Saturday night, Landry gave a nod to bipartisansip and to a Democract who threw her support to him after falling in the primary.
“I want to especially thank Geri Broussard Baloney, who endorsed our campaign and supported our effort,” Landry said. “This election was about bringing honesty, integrity, and a new attitude to the attorney general’s office. Justice should not be based on who you are, what part of the state you are from, your gender, your age, your political party, or your race. As Louisiana’s next attorney general, I will treat everybody fairly and equally so all citizens can develop trust that their government is there to work for them, not against them.”
In local elections, longtime Breaux Bridge City Councilman Albert “Da Da” Menard handily won election to the St. Martin Parish Council, defeating Breaux Bridge insurance man Vincent Alexander 56-44 percent for the District 7 seat vacated by Craig Gregory.
And political newcomer Daniel Richard Jr. handily won the District 9 seat vacated by term-limited Dean Doré. Richard defeated Kim J. Angelle, another political neophyte, 60-40 percent.
The biggest margin of victory locally went to voters in St. Martinville who approved a bond-issue to raise up to $1.5 million for improvements to public recreation facilities. “Yes” received a whopping 70 percent of the vote.
The results:
Governor
39.7% turnout
•John Bel Edwards, Democrat, Amite – 646,860, 56% (7,812, 54% in St. Martin);
•David Vitter, Republican, Metairie – 505,929, 44% (6,758, 46% in St. Martin).
Lieutenant Governor
39.1% turnout
•Melvin L. “Kip” Holden, Democrat, Baton Rouge – 505,578, 45% (5,394, 38% in St. Martin);
•“Billy” Nungesser, Republican, Belle Chasse – 628,864, 55% (8,828, 62% in St. Martin).
Attorney General
37.4% turnout
•James D. “Buddy” Caldwell, Republican, Baton Rouge – 473,869, 44% (3,868, 27% in St. Martin);
•“Jeff” Landry, Republican, New Iberia – 610,433, 56% (10,215, 73% in St. Martin).
District Judge
16th Judicial District Court
ES 2, Div. D
38.7% turnout
•“Eddie” Guidry, Republican, St. Martinville – 16,366, 47% (8,289, 76% in St. Martin);
•Lewis Pitman, Republican, New Iberia – 18,111, 53% (2,637, 24% in St. Martin).
St. Martin Parish
Council District 7
37.7% turnout
•Vincent Alexander, Democrat, Breaux Bridge – 621, 44%;
•Albert “Da Da” Menard, Democrat, Breaux Bridge – 796, 56%.
St. Martin Parish
Council District 9
40.3% turnout
•Kim J. Angelle, Democrat, Cecilia – 661, 40%;
•Daniel Richard Jr., Other, Arnaudville – 985, 60%.
$1.5M Bond Election for St. Martinville Recreation
30.6% turnout
•Yes – 948, 70%
•No – 403, 30%.