Hot House Race In Homestretch
It's the hottest election in the nation. Nine candidates in Louisiana are battling it out for the House seat being vacated by disgraced Republican Bob Livingston. The vote will take place Saturday.
The crowded field includes former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke and a wealthy New Orleans opthamologist named Monica Monica. Polls suggest the leader is former GOP Gov. David Treen, but the outcome of the special election remains in doubt.
If no candidate obtains a majority of the votes cast, which seems a certainty, the race will be decided in a runoff election between the two top vote-getters.
Louisiana's 1st Congressional District is just north of New Orleans. The district is solidly white and solidly Republican. The only serious Democrat in the race is state Rep. William Strain.
The candidates have been attacking each other bitterly over the issue of term limits, which could give an opening to Duke or Strain, experts said. Wealthy businessman and lawyer Rob Couhig, the only one of the candidates to criticize Duke for his racist views, is a longer shot, experts said.
In Louisiana's open primary system, all candidates run at the same time, regardless of party affiliation.
"It's a very conservative district, high in Republicans, low in African Americans and liberals. It is not likely, but neither is it inconceivable, that Duke and Strain could slip into a runoff, especially when all the viable candidates have the same positions on most issues," said Louisiana State University political scientist Wayne Parent.
As might be expected, all of the candidates, including Democrat Strain, are espousing a conservative philosophy.
Livingston stepped down last December amid reports that he had engaged in numerous extramarital affairs. Livingston was on the verge of becoming House speaker when he dramatically announced, during impeachment proceedings against President Clinton, that he was leaving Congress.
©1999 CBS Worldwide Corp. All rights reserved. Reuters contributed to this report