This archive report was first published on 13 October 2019.
Published on October 13, 2019, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards is headed to a runoff election after failing to secure a majority of the vote in the gubernatorial election.
Edwards, a Democrat, received just shy of 24 percent of the vote, trailing Republican Eddie Rispone by three percentage points. Rispone, who has ties to President Trump, emphasized his lack of political experience throughout the campaign, portraying Edwards and his opponent, Senator Ralph Abraham, as career politicians.
"This is just the first step," Rispone said in a speech on Saturday night. "We're going to be the governor of Louisiana. We're going to turn this state around."
Edwards' path to the governor's office was paved in part by the unpopularity of his predecessor, Bobby Jindal, who left behind huge structural deficits. Edwards also benefited from the scandal surrounding his 2015 opponent, Senator David Vitter.
Despite being called an "accidental governor," Edwards remains one of the few Democrats to hold the top office in the Deep South. However, competitive races in Mississippi and Kentucky have Democrats hoping to claim states in the heart of Trump country.
