NEW ORLEANS (Reuters) - Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy handily won a
Louisiana U.S. Senate runoff election on Saturday, capping big wins for his
party in the Nov. 4 midterms at the expense of one of the chamber's last
remaining southern Democrats.
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| Republican U.S. Representative Bill Cassidy addresses supporters with his wife Laura after winning the run-off election for U.S. Senate against Democrat Mary Landrieu in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, December 6, 2014. |
(Reuters) - Republican Congressman Bill Cassidy handily won a Louisiana U.S. Senate runoff election on Saturday, capping big wins for his party in the Nov. 4 midterms at the expense of one of the chamber's last remaining southern Democrats.
Cassidy, whose victory swells the ranks of Republicans in the Senate to 54, defeated Mary Landrieu, a three-term incumbent who last month pushed hard for a Senate vote on approving the Keystone XL pipeline from Canada's oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast that came up just short.
Cassidy, 57, ran a disciplined campaign focused on linking Landrieu to President Barack Obama, who is deeply unpopular among whites in Louisiana. With all precincts reporting, he defeated Landrieu by just under 12 percentage points, uncertified results showed.