Republicans Catch Break In Race Against Cazayoux

(The Politico)  Republicans have good reason to be optimistic this morning about winning back a Louisiana House seat it lost in a special election earlier this year, after the party’s past controversial nominee announced he wouldn’t be running again.

Former state Rep. Woody Jenkins announced last night to the Baton Rouge Advocate that he would not be seeking the GOP nomination. Jenkins was the party’s nominee in the special election to replace Rep. Richard Baker (R-La.), and lost to now-Rep. Don Cazayoux (D-La.) despite the Baton Rouge district’s Republican bent. He brought significant political baggage to the race – one of his primary opponents aired an advertisement in the primary accusing Jenkins of having business ties with former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke.

His unstinting socially conservative positions also made him a highly divisive figure, and he began the campaign with unusually high unfavorable ratings for a first-time House candidate.

And he only bought a minimal amount of locally-produced television ads, forcing both the National Republican Congressional Committee and its conservative ally Freedom’s Watch to spend millions on his behalf – unsuccessfully.

The news is welcome for the NRCC, which views the candidacy of state senator and physician Bill Cassidy favorably. Without Jenkins in the race, Cassidy now appears to be the Republican favorite and will not face serious primary opposition.

The newly-elected Cazayoux will have his hands full running again in a district that gave President Bush 59 percent of the vote. Despite all the negative publicity surrounding Jenkins, he only won by a three-point margin – 49 to 46 percent. Cazayoux has not released his most-recent fundraising numbers yet; after the special election, he only had $25,000 in his campaign account.