Salon.com > Melinda Deslatte

Boustany trounces Landry for Louisiana congressional seat

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 15:42:00 +0000

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Congressman Charles Boustany, a veteran Republican allied with House Speaker John Boehner, has trounced freshman GOP incumbent Jeff Landry in an attack-heavy runoff race.

The two incumbents were forced into the same district when Louisiana lost a congressional seat because of anemic population growth in the latest federal census. The state will have six U.S. House seats in the new term that begins in January.

A four-term congressman who had gone into Saturday's balloting favored by the new district design, Boustany will represent the 3rd District covering southwest Louisana and nearby Acadiana.

With nearly all precincts reporting, Boustany led Landry by about a 3-2 margin. About one-fifth of district voters cast ballots on Saturday.

"This looks like a very solid victory. We had a very strong ground game, which was a key element in the runoff. We reached out to a lot of voters with a solid message backed by the results I've gotten in Congress," said Boustany, a retired doctor.

Landry, the tea party favorite, was unable to build enough grassroots support in his bid to oust Boustany. The race had been marked by sharp attacks since both men ran as conservative Republicans opposed to the policies of President Barack Obama and had little philosophical ground in which to distinguish themselves.

Miss. River spillway opens, towns await floodwater

Sun, 15 May 2011 13:53:00 +0000

Over the next few days, water spewing through a Mississippi River floodgate will crawl through the swamps of Louisiana's Cajun country, chasing people and animals to higher ground while leaving much of the land under 10 to 20 feet of brown muck.

The floodgate was opened Saturday for the first time in nearly four decades, shooting out like a waterfall, spraying 6 feet into the air. Fish jumped or were hurled through the white froth and what was dry land soon turned into a raging channel.

The water will flow 20 miles south into the Atchafalaya Basin, and from there it will roll on to Morgan City, an oil-and-seafood hub and a community of 12,000.

In the nearby community of Stephensville, rows of sandbags were piled up outside nearly every home.

Merleen Acosta, 58, waited in line for three hours to get her sandbags filled by prisoners, then returned later in the day for more bags.

Floodwaters inundated Acosta's home when the Morganza spillway was opened in 1973, driving her out for several months. The thought of losing her home again was so stressful she was getting sick.

"I was throwing up at work," she said.

Jindal: No plans to run for president in 2012

Tue, 16 Nov 2010 00:39:00 +0000

Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal of Louisiana, now promoting his new book "Leadership and Crisis," says he doesn't plan to run for president in 2012.

Republicans are seeking hopefuls to challenge President Barack Obama, but the 39-year-old governor said Monday his only political ambition is to run for governor again next year.

"I'm not being coy at all. I'm not running for president in 2012. Period. No ifs, ands or buts, no caveats," Jindal told The Associated Press in an interview. "We have made great progress in Louisiana, but we've got a lot more work to do."

Jindal's book charts the rise of the 39-year-old son of Indian immigrants to the Louisiana governor's office, while criticizing the Obama administration. It's silent on any national ambitions.