2014 United States Senate election in Louisiana
The 2014 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 4, 2014, to elect a member of the United States Senate to represent the State of Louisiana. As no candidate won a majority of the vote, a runoff was held on December 6, 2014.
Incumbent Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu ran for re-election to a fourth term in office against Republican U.S. Representative Bill Cassidy and several other candidates.
Under Louisiana's jungle primary system, all candidates appear on the same ballot, regardless of party and voters may vote for any candidate, regardless of their party affiliation. Louisiana is the only state that has a jungle primary system. Since no candidate received a majority of the vote in the primary election, a runoff election was held on December 6 between the top two candidates, Landrieu and Cassidy.
In the December 6 runoff, Cassidy defeated Landrieu by 56% to 44%, settling the fate of the final Senate seat of the 2014 midterm elections. Cassidy's victory gave the Republicans 54 seats in the 114th Congress. Cassidy became the first Republican to hold this seat since William Pitt Kellogg did so in 1883.
Background
Elections in Louisiana, with the exception of U.S. presidential elections, follow a variation of the open primary system called the jungle primary. Candidates of any and all parties are listed on one ballot; voters need not limit themselves to the candidates of one party. Unless one candidate takes more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a run-off election is then held between the top two candidates, who may in fact be members of the same party. This scenario occurred in the 7th District congressional race in 1996, when Democrats Chris John and Hunter Lundy made the runoff for the open seat, and in 1999, when Republicans Suzanne Haik Terrell and Woody Jenkins made the runoff for Commissioner of Elections.Candidates
Democratic Party
Declared
- Wayne Ables
- Mary Landrieu, incumbent U.S. Senator
- Vallian Senegal
- William Waymire, retired Marine
Withdrew
- Raymond Brown, minister, civil rights activist and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 1998 and 2002
Declined
- Edwin Edwards, former Governor of Louisiana and former U.S. Representative
Republican Party
Declared
- Bill Cassidy, U.S. Representative
- Thomas Clements, small business owner
- Rob Maness, retired U.S. Air Force Colonel
Withdrew
- Paul Hollis, state representative
Declined
- Scott Angelle, member of the Louisiana Public Service Commission and former Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
- Charles Boustany, U.S. Representative
- Jay Dardenne, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
- John Fleming, U.S. Representative
- Elbert Guillory, state senator
- Bobby Jindal, Governor of Louisiana
- Jeff Landry, former U.S. Representative
- Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, former state representative and candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2002
- Phil Robertson, reality television star
- Buddy Roemer, former governor of Louisiana, former U.S. Representative and candidate for President of the United States in 2012
- Chas Roemer, president of the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and son of former governor Buddy Roemer
- Steve Scalise, U.S. Representative
- Alan Seabaugh, state representative
Libertarian Party
Declared
- Brannon McMorris, electrical engineer
Jungle primary
Debates
- , October 14, 2014
- , October 29, 2014
Endorsements
Polling
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;Jungle primary ResultsRunoffDebates
Polling
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