Breaux to Retire?
I’ve been saying for a while now that Senator John Breaux (D-LA) is likely to resign (if a Democrat becomes governor this November) or retire in 2004. Now Publius of PoliticsUS.com adds fuel to the rumors:
Yes, this is a heck of a way to break a story, but Publius is reliably informed by a number of sources that incumbent Democrat U.S. Senator JOHN BREAUX will announce shortly after the Louisiana Governor’s race is completed on November 15 that he will retire at the end of his current term.…
Should Publius’ sources prove correct, and Breaux makes his expected retirement announcement, look for the GOP to go after this seat hard. It’s the answer to a great trivia question: to wit, what is the only state in the Union never to have elected a Republican to the United State Senate? (The closest the GOP ever got was 1996, when Republican state Rep. LOUIS “WOODY” JENKINS came within 5,788 votes of defeating MARY LANDRIEU.) Look for Republicans to line up behind U.S. Rep. DAVID VITTER, while Democrats coalesce behind U.S. Rep. CHRIS JOHN.
If Breaux retires and Senator Bob Graham (D-FL) doesn’t run for re-election, the Democrats will be defending five open Senate seats in the South in 2004 – a horrifying prospect for them, as you can see from my 2004 Senate analysis.
Subscribe to blog feed.