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NEWS

Cazayoux wins 6th District

Don Cazayoux celebrates his win with daughters Katie, left, and Chavanne and his wife Cherie at his election night party for the 6th U.S. Congressional District seat at the Baton Rouge Women's Club Saturday.
Show Caption LIZ CONDO/The Advocate
Win puts third Democrat into Louisiana delegation
  • By MARK BALLARD AND SARAH CHACKO
  • Capitol news bureau
  • Published: May 4, 2008 - UPDATED: 12:05 a.m.

The Baton Rouge area has a Democratic congressman for the first time in three decades.

State Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads polled 49,702 votes Saturday to narrowly beat Republican publisher Woody Jenkins of Baton Rouge, who got 46,741 votes, for the District 6 seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

“We talked about the issues in this campaign,” Cazayoux, 44, told a crowded room of supporters. “The other side was more divisive.”

Jenkins offered his congratulations. He said low turnout and the large amounts of money spent were significant factors in this election.
The Secretary of State’s Office reported 101,011 of the 429,689 eligible voters  in the 6th District — or 23.5 percent — cast ballots Saturday.

Final but unofficial returns show Cazayoux won about 49 percent of the vote, compared to 46 percent for Jenkins, with three other candidates taking the rest. Under federal election rules new to Louisiana, the candidate with the most votes wins, even if the total is less than 50 percent.

With the Cazayoux win, Louisiana’s seven-member U.S. delegation has three Democrats for the first time since 2004 and for only the second time in 12 years.

The Congressional seat had been held by a Republican since 1974. Much of that time the seat belonged to Richard Baker, who resigned in February to take a job with a hedge fund association.

Two candidates without  party affiliation — Ashley Casey of Baton Rouge and Peter Aranyosi of Hammond — and Constitution Party candidate Randall Hayes of Winnfield also were in the race.

The district represents all of East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, Livingston, St. Helena, West Baton Rouge and West Feliciana parishes and parts of Ascension, Iberville and Pointe Coupee parishes.

Cazayoux will serve as congressman for the term that ends in January 2009. The seat is up for election again in November.
Jenkins said he has not given thought to running in the fall but is not ruling it out.

On election day, a number of homes in Baton Rouge’s predominantly black neighborhoods were phoned with a tape-recorded message asking black voters to teach white Democrats a lesson by staying home and not casting ballots.

The ad signed off as “Friends of Michael Jackson.”

Jackson, a Democratic state representative defeated by Cazayoux in the primary runoff, said he was not involved or connected in any way with the calls. Jackson said he will run for the seat in November.


Comments (33)
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Drew-B
Sunday, May 04, 2008
2:51 AM

I generally vote rebuplican, but didn't vote yesterday. I refused to vote for Jenkins because his campaign called my cell phone and home phone 11 times. Wonder how many others this turned off?
mark edward marchiafava
Sunday, May 04, 2008
3:01 AM

Can we expect our new congressman to join forces with Dr. Ron Paul to restore a constitutional government?
mike day
Sunday, May 04, 2008
4:30 AM

HOW MANY BEATINGS DOES OLD SHOEBOX NEED TO TAKE BEFORE HE KNOWS ITS OVER? I KNOW REPUBLICANS THAT REFUSED TO VOTE FOR HIM.
Tom LePerioux
Sunday, May 04, 2008
5:29 AM

How much did the Special Election cost? A Million Dollars? We should send that greedy Richard Baker the bill and force him to pay for it! Why should the taxpayers have to pay since the jerk went back on his oath to serve the full two years?
md
Sunday, May 04, 2008
5:52 AM

I did vote for Woody but, what upsets me the most is, only 23.5% voter turnout. Obviously, people simply do not care about the future of this country any longer.
David
Sunday, May 04, 2008
6:41 AM

If the Republicans put up anyone except retread Jenkins, they win. They'll learn their lesson (hopefully) and make sure this left-wing labor union lover doesn't get a full term.
Terri
Sunday, May 04, 2008
6:46 AM

Drew-B: Too bad the democrats don't think like you................By the way, your NON-VOTE was a vote for the winner......
Terry Dunlevy
Sunday, May 04, 2008
7:21 AM

I found it odd that the advertisements of Lane Grigsby and the National Republican Committee would not even mention their preferred candidate nor offer one single reason or item of merit to vote FOR him. The attack ads turned me off and even offended me a bit. It appears that the voters in this area were more afraid of the idea of Woody Jenkins in Congress than the supposed "bogeymen" of Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi as put forth in the "swiftboat" attack dog ads of Grigsby and the RNC. Those scare tactic ads were not effective and even seemed counterproductive as underestimating or insulting the collective intelligence of the 6th Congressional District electorate. Maybe (but probably not) those folks will learn a lesson from this election and promote reasons why their preferred candidate should merit a vote versus the "lowest common denominator" ads they seem to enjoy. One question I have is whether the Law of Unexpected Consequences played any role here. Has the Baton Rouge area electorate become somewhat less conservative as a result of Katrina? Terry
Charlieboy
Sunday, May 04, 2008
7:57 AM

Poor Woody. Lost again! His tired old Neoconservatism won't rise to power no matter how much political viagra he takes. The old attack ads don't work so well when the nation has been brought down by the worst president ever. Conservative values? Like massive debt? Like the largest federal government ever? Like the most intrusive Federal govenment ever? Like the most invasive Federal government ever? Like the first American administration to lose three wars at the same time ( Iraq; Afghanistan; Terror)? Like a crumbing infrastructure? Poor Woody. Anybody that wired to that skam of a pyramid scheme, Amway, shouldn't be trusted with government.
mike day
Sunday, May 04, 2008
8:08 AM

woody, pppppppplease run again. get over it with union friendly people giving union haters a run for their money union numbers or on the rise in the baton rouge area. a month doesn't go by without non-union workers knocking on our unions door wanting to join. we show up and we VOTE.
Joe
Sunday, May 04, 2008
8:52 AM

"Banker" Baker was in it for himself and the people who kept him in office (the financial industry). I would have voted for Woody based on issues that he supported when he was in the Louisiana Legislature. His campaign was too negative this time around, that combined with his strong support for the Patriot Act convinced me not to vote for him.
wayne4lsu
Sunday, May 04, 2008
8:56 AM

Oh, great. It shows that the people in this area would prefer Communist rule under Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi rather than maintain good, wholesome, anti-Union Conservative values. I hope you're all satisfied when you're taxes skyrocket. God bless America.
Pointe Coupee
Sunday, May 04, 2008
9:01 AM

Lane Grigsby's ads only hurt him. If you know the little man you would know he's a want to be that doesn't have it. The irony of this election is that Grigsby is Jim Bernhard's lap dog, taking the scraps of contracts Shaw doesn't want from its list of no bid government contracts, while Bernhard bankrolls Cazayoux to keep the gravy train running. Grigsby is not even intelligent enough to know not to offend his master. Careful Lane Jim might start making you sit at the back on the Gulfstream when you can mooch a ride. This Ad paid for by people who want a real Republican to run for office and not a retread.
Joe
Sunday, May 04, 2008
10:25 AM

The Conservatives' spending has lead us to a 9 1/2 trillion dollar national debt, that is about $35,000 per man, woman, and child. The war on terrorism will have cost the tax payers about 3 trillion dollars. if it ends pretty soon, that is $10,000 per man woman and child in the United States. Bush has lower taxes and increased spending, borrowing money to spend. The current administration is insane.
cy
Sunday, May 04, 2008
10:37 AM

Woody supported the Patriot Act’s provisions that allow electronic spying without a court order. That seems to violate at least the spirit of the 4th amendment but that does not seem to be a problem for Woody because his ad attacked the Democrats for opposing those provisions. The Bush administration has been quick to eliminate any sense of consideration of State’s Rights over the Federal Government. Expanding the Federal government, expanded spending, and trampling on States Rights. It seems that the Vitter Principle, of not following espoused principles is alive and well. At least Woody Jenkins will not be in Washington to continue the trend
Drew-B
Sunday, May 04, 2008
11:19 AM

Terri, you are incorrect. I don't want either of these guys in office. Why would I vote for either of them? We have grown too comfortable with the "lesser of two evils" choices we are given. Under your logic, the 75% plus people who didn't vote did in fact vote for somebody, but who, I guess all of their non-votes were votes for the candidate you were opposed to? And to Pointe Coupee, Lane Grigsby is a good man who has created jobs and opportunities for thousands of people. I have known the man for over 20 years and he was making it before Bernhard was in the picture. The political ads did make him look bad, but politics make everybody look bad.
JSH
Sunday, May 04, 2008
11:51 AM

Thank God!! We did not need the anti government Jenkins representing Louisiana in our Federal Government.
mark edward marchiafava
Sunday, May 04, 2008
12:48 PM

Created jobs and opportunities for thousands of people? The same could be said for Adolph Hitler, too.
David
Sunday, May 04, 2008
1:40 PM

What a shocker. Michael D. Day, Mr. I hate Bush, Mr. I hate all Republicans, has chimed in with his spineless left-wing drviel supplied to him by Victor Bussie, who has ruined Louisiana forever with his demands. Mr. Day, do you have a job? Do you have anything else to do with your miserable existence other than write to The Advocate and show how many ways you hate George W. Bush? I've never seen someone seething with as much hatred towards one man as you do towards our president. I never saw this kind of hatred spewed towards Clinton in the letters to the editor section. Louisiana will always be last in everything that's good and first in everything that's bad thanks to Bussie and his anti-business demands. Remember when Margaret Lowenthal was running for Congress in Lake Charles? Remember how business executives told her as long as Victor Bussie was calling the shots Louisiana would never attract business? Well, it's still true.
Victory
Sunday, May 04, 2008
2:14 PM

I was one of the persons who were called yesterday asking NOT to vote by "The Friends of Michael Jackson." I am FURIOUS!!! He should be punished to the fullest extent of the law! I consider this a form of intimidation...and even worst, an INSULT TO MY GOD-GIVEN INTELLIGENCE!! I pray that you, Michael Jackson, never hold office again. You are a joke! The only person you care about is You--not the people of this state!
mike day
Sunday, May 04, 2008
5:11 PM

hey david i have stones enough to use my full name do you?
mike day
Sunday, May 04, 2008
5:14 PM

daivd, seems like a few SORE LOSERS POSTING TODAY HUH?
Timebanded
Sunday, May 04, 2008
6:09 PM

I was surprised everyone in the area was not brainwashed myopic morons who get dumber by the day listening to Faux News and Rush. The Republican party has sent this country down the toilet for eight years but unfortunately Louisiana is trendy right. At least some people are seeing past the bs.
La. Expatriate
Sunday, May 04, 2008
7:35 PM

It's funny returning to the Advocate's comments section. You can see why people like me leave Louisiana in droves after getting our degrees - constant squabbling over road projects that started twenty years too late, people making ridiculous claims about unions being "anti-American" , old-style "your side of the tracks" racism, and a predominant attitude of "someone should do something" with no solutions offered. Despite all of this, I'm heartened that some voters see the light, and are starting to reject the old rubber stamp Republicans like Woody Jenkins. Hopefully Bobby Jindal doesn't mess the state up too much or create too many "politicians for life" like Jenkins with his administration.
enveng
Sunday, May 04, 2008
8:59 PM