The 2004 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 2, 2004. Incumbent Democratic Senator

John Breaux John Berlinger Breaux (; born March 1, 1944) is an American lobbyist, attorney, and retired politician who was a member of the United States Senate from Louisiana from 1987 until 2005. He was also a member of the U.S. House of Representatives fr ...

decided to retire after three terms in office. Republican Representative David Vitter won the open seat with 51% of the primary vote and avoided a runoff, which would be scheduled on December 4, becoming the first Republican elected to the senate in over

100 years 100 Years may refer to: * "100 Years" (song), 2003 song by Five For Fighting * ''100 Years'' (film), film due to be released in 2115, one hundred years after production of the film See also *Century *Year 100 __NOTOC__ AD 100 ( C) was a leap ...

and the first Republican ever to be popularly elected to the U.S. Senate from Louisiana.

Candidates

Democratic Party

* Chris John, U.S. Representative *

John Neely Kennedy John Neely Kennedy (born November 21, 1951) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Louisiana since 2017. He served as the Louisiana State Treasurer from 2000 to 2017. Kennedy has been a memb ...

, State Treasurer * Arthur A. Morrell * Sam Houston Melton, Jr.

Republican Party

* David Vitter, U.S. Representative

Independents

* Richard M. Fontanesi * R.A. "Skip" Galan

Campaign

Breaux, considered the most popular politician in Louisiana, endorsed Chris John prior to the

jungle primary A nonpartisan blanket primary is a primary election in which all candidates for the same elected office run against each other at once, regardless of the political party. Partisan elections are, on the other hand, segregated by political party. ...

. During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy

affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...

with a

prostitute Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penet ...

in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics." The allegation later turned out to be true.Shailagh Murray
"Senator's Number on 'Madam' Phone List"
''Washington Post'', July 10, 2007 Vitter won the Louisiana jungle primary with 51% of the vote, avoiding the need for a runoff. John received 29.2% of the vote and Kennedy (no relation to the Massachusetts Kennedys), took 14.9%. Vitter won at least a plurality in 55 of Louisiana's 64 parishes. John carried nine parishes, all but two of which (Iberville and Orleans) are part of the House district he represented. Kennedy changed parties and unsuccessfully ran as Republican in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

against Louisiana's senior Senator, Democrat Mary Landrieu, but he was elected to the U.S. Senate in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

upon Vitter's retirement. Vitter was the first Republican in Louisiana to be popularly elected as a U.S. Senator. The previous Republican Senator, William Pitt Kellogg, was chosen by the state legislature in 1876, in accordance with the process used before the

Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution The Seventeenth Amendment (Amendment XVII) to the United States Constitution established the direct election of United States senators in each state. The amendment supersedes Article I, Section 3, Clauses 1 and2 of the Constitution, under wh ...

went into effect in 1914.

Predictions

Results

Aftermath

Vitter won reelection in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

in spite of allegations surrounding solicitations of prostitutes. He then ran for Governor of Louisiana in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, but lost to Democrat John Bel Edwards. After conceding defeat in the gubernatorial election, Vitter announced that he would not run for a third term in

. However, the open seat was won by

, the second losing Democratic candidate from the 2004 race. In the interim, Kennedy had switched to the Republican Party and unsuccessfully challenged Democratic U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu in

References

External links

Elections Division
from the ''Louisiana Secretary of State'' {{United States elections, 2004 2004 Louisiana elections

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...