Alex Brandon/AP Photo; Insider
- Sen. John Kennedy is running against Democrats Luke Mixon and Gary Chambers among a crowded slate of challengers to represent Louisiana in the US Senate.
- Kennedy, a staunch Trump ally, is endorsed by the former president.
- Elections in Louisiana use a majority-vote system when voting.
Republican incumbent Sen. John Kennedy faces off against Democrat Luke Mixon and several other challengers in Louisiana to represent the state in the US Senate.
Local, state, and federal elections in Louisiana use a majority-vote system which, as Ballotpedia notes, is markedly different from those used in the other 49 states. In Louisiana, all candidates, regardless of their partisan affiliations, compete in a first-round election, in which a candidate can win the election by receiving more than 50% — a simple majority — of the vote.
If no candidate meets that threshold, the top two finishers from the primary advance to a second election.
Louisiana's first-round election is conducted on November 8, and its second-round election is on December 10.
Louisiana's Senate race candidates
Kennedy, first elected in 2016, serves on the Senate Committees on Appropriations, Banking, Budget, Judiciary, and Small Business. He serves as the ranking member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, Judiciary Subcommittee on Federal Courts, and Banking Subcommittee on Economic Policy.
The Republican incumbent was one of six Republican senators who voted to sustain an objection to Arizona's electoral votes presented by Rep. Paul Gosar and Sen. Ted Cruz during the counting of the electoral votes on January 6, 2021.
Kennedy is endorsed by former President Donald Trump.
Prior to his election to the Senate, Kennedy served as state treasurer for five terms, serving in the position from 2000 to 2017.
Among the 12 challengers Kennedy faces includes Democrats Mixon, a Navy veteran and TOPGUN graduate endorsed by Gov. John Bel Edwards; and Gary Chambers, an entrepreneur and community organizer.
Louisiana's voting history
The state voted for Trump over Joe Biden by a margin of about 20 percentage points in the 2020 election. Louisiana has voted Republican in every presidential race since 1980 except for two elections: 1992 and 1996, when the state when for Democrat Bill Clinton.
The money race
According to OpenSecrets, Kennedy has raised $37.5 million, spent $25.2 million, and has $13.6 million cash on hand, as of October 19.
His challenger, Mixon, has raised $2 million, spent $1.7 million, and has $295,980 cash on hand, as of October 19.
Chambers, another Democratic challenger, has raised $1.6 million, spent $1.6 million, and has $54,500 cash on hand, as of October 19.
The other candidates have reported little or no fundraising activity.
What experts say
Louisiana's Senate race is rated as "solid Republican" by Inside Elections, "solid Republican" by The Cook Political Report, and "safe Republican" by Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia Center for Politics.
from Business Insider https://ift.tt/OyNqBWf
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