David Vitter

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David Vitter bigraphy, stories - U.S. Senator from Louisiana

David Vitter : biography

May 3, 1961 –

David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is the junior United States Senator from Louisiana and a member of the Republican Party. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana’s 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives before entering the U.S. House.

He won a second Senate term in 2010, defeating a Democratic challenge from U.S. Representative Charlie Melancon of Napoleonville, the seat of Assumption Parish. In the Republican primary held on August 28, 2010, Vitter handily defeated former Louisiana Supreme Court Justice Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, formerly from Winnsboro.

In July 2007, Vitter was identified as a client of a prostitution service during the DC Madam scandal.

Early political career

House of Representatives

Vitter was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999 before he entered the U.S. House of Representatives. He won a special election to Louisiana’s 1st congressional district in 1999, succeeding Republican Congressman Bob Livingston, who resigned after an adultery scandal. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999,Stuart Rothenberg, , CNN, April 13, 1999 former Congressman and Governor David Treen finished first with 36,719 votes (25%). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22%), and white nationalist David Duke finished third with 28,055 votes (19%). Monica L. Monica, a Republican ophthalmologist, had 16%; State Representative Bill Strain, a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11%; and Rob Couhig, a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans’s minor league baseball team, had 6%.Kevin Sack, , New York Times, May 3, 1999 In the runoff, Vitter defeated Treen 51% to 49%.

In 2000 and 2002, Vitter won reelection with over 80% of the vote in what had become a safe Republican district.

2002 gubernatorial race

In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican Mike Foster, prevented by term limits from running again. But in June 2002, shortly before the Louisiana Weekly ran a story about Vitter’s alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor’s race,Christopher Tidmore, , Louisiana Weekly, March 29, 2004 saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems.Schor, Elana and Sam Youngman, , The Hill, July 11, 2007

United States Senate

2004 election

In 2004, Vitter ran to replace Democrat John Breaux in the U.S. Senate. Former state Senator Daniel Wesley Richey, a Baton Rouge political consultant, directed Vitter’s grassroots organization in the race, with assistance from Richey’s longtime ally, former state Representative Louis E. "Woody" Jenkins of Baton Rouge, himself a defeated U.S. Senate candidate in 1978, 1980, and 1996.

During the campaign, Vitter was accused by a member of the Louisiana Republican State Central Committee of having had a lengthy affair with a prostitute in New Orleans. Vitter responded that the allegation was "absolutely and completely untrue" and that it was "just crass Louisiana politics."Shailagh Murray, , Washington Post, July 10, 2007

On November 2, 2004, Vitter won the jungle primary, garnering a majority of the vote, while the rest of the vote was mostly split among the Democratic contenders.

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 went into effect in 1914.

State Representative Mike Futrell of Baton Rouge resigned early in 2005 to become Vitter’s state director. Futrell remained in the position until 2008, when he was engaged in East Baton Rouge Parish municipal/parish government.

2010 election

Vitter yard sign (2010) Vitter began fundraising for his 2010 reelection run in December 2008. He raised $731,000 in the first quarter of 2009 and $2.5 million for his 2010 campaign. He had wide leads against potential Democratic opponents in aggregate general election polling. He faced intraparty opposition from Chet D. Traylor of Monroe, a former associate justice of the Louisiana Supreme Court in the August 28 Republican primary election and defeated him. He then faced the Democrat U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon of Napoleonville in the November 2 general election. An Independent, State Representative Ernest Wooton of Belle Chasse in Plaquemines Parish, also ran. On Nov 4th, 2010, Vitter was re-elected as Louisiana Senator, defeating his Democratic rival, Melancon. According to international news reports, Vitter got 715,304 votes while Melancon got 476,423 votes. Vitter received about 57% of the total vote while Melancon got 38%. The independent candidate Wooton finished with only 8,167 votes, or 1 percent of the total cast.