 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
 Parish results Vitter: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% 60–70% 70–80% John: 30–40% 40–50% 50–60% | |||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||
The2004 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Democratic SenatorJohn Breaux decided to retire after three terms in office.Republican RepresentativeDavid Vitter won the open seat with more than 50% of the primary vote. He thus avoided a runoff that would have otherwise been held on December 4, became the first Louisiana Republican elected to the U.S. Senate since1876, and the first ever to be popularly elected. This was also the first time ever that a Republican won a full term to this Senate seat. The third-placed candidate,John Kennedy, has held this same Senate seat as a Republican since 2017.
Breaux, considered the most popular politician in Louisiana, endorsed Chris John prior to thejungle primary.[1]
During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthyaffair with aprostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics." The allegation later turned out to be true.[2]
Vitter won the Louisiana jungle primary with 51% of the vote, avoiding the need for a runoff. John received 29.2% of the vote and Kennedy (no relation to theMassachusetts Kennedys), took 14.9%.
Vitter won at least a plurality in 55 of Louisiana's 64 parishes. John carried nine parishes, all but two of which (Iberville and Orleans) are part of the House district he represented.
Kennedy changed parties and unsuccessfully ran as Republican in2008 against Louisiana's senior Senator, DemocratMary Landrieu, but he was elected to the U.S. Senate in2016 upon Vitter's retirement.
Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator,William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before theSeventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution went into effect in 1914.[3]
| Source | Ranking | As of |
|---|---|---|
| Sabato's Crystal Ball[4] | Lean R(flip) | November 1, 2004 |
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Republican | David Vitter | 943,014 | 51.03% | ||
| Democratic | Chris John | 542,150 | 29.34% | ||
| Democratic | John Neely Kennedy | 275,821 | 14.92% | ||
| Democratic | Arthur A. Morrell | 47,222 | 2.56% | ||
| Independent | Richard M. Fontanesi | 15,097 | 0.82% | ||
| Independent | R. A. "Skip" Galan | 12,463 | 0.67% | ||
| Democratic | Sam Houston Melton, Jr. | 12,289 | 0.66% | ||
| Majority | 400,864 | 21.69% | |||
| Turnout | 1,848,056 | 100% | |||
| Republicangain fromDemocratic | Swing | ||||
Vitter won re-election in2010 despite allegations of him soliciting prostitutes. He then unsuccessfully ran for Governor in2015. While conceding defeat in that election, Vitter announced that he would not seek a third Senate term in2016. The open seat was won byJohn Neely Kennedy, the second losing Democratic candidate from the 2004 race. In the interim, Kennedy switched parties in 2007 and unsuccessfully ran for Louisiana's other Senate seat in2008 as a Republican.
Official campaign websites
.jpg)
