Democrat Who Opposes Abortion Rights Wins Special Congressional Election In Louisiana

Main Category: Abortion
Article Date: 06 May 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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State Rep. Don Cazayoux (D), who opposes abortion rights, on Saturday won a special election for a Louisiana U.S. House seat that has been held by Republicans for 33 years, the Washington Post reports (Kane, Washington Post, 5/4). Cazayoux defeated Woody Jenkins -- a newspaper publisher and former state legislator who also opposes abortion rights -- by 49% to 46% for the seat vacated by retiring Rep. Richard Baker (R).

The two parties saw the Louisiana race as an important test for the fall, with Democrats viewing the potential victory as a measure of Republican vulnerability, the New York Times repots. According to the Times, Cazayoux spoke "approvingly" of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and was "close" to Jenkins on "social issues like abortion and guns." Cazayoux also rarely mentioned the Democratic candidates for president and said that he would vote against the Democratic Party's wishes if he felt the district's interests called for it (Nossiter, New York Times, 5/4). Cazayoux will represent Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, which includes part of the capital city, Baton Rouge.

In another special election Saturday for Louisiana's 1st Congressional District, state Sen. Steve Scalise (R) defeated Gilda Reed (D) (Reuters, 5/4). Scalise, who opposes abortion rights, will take over the U.S. House seat vacated by Bobby Jindal (R) when he became governor in January (Giroux, CQ Today, 5/3).

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