Mary Landrieu, a first-term Democratic US Senator, faces Republican challenger Suzanne Haik Terrell in tomorrow’s runoff race in Louisiana. On Nov. 5, Landrieu won 46 percent of the vote to Terrell’s 27 percent in Louisiana’s open primary, but candidates are required to 50 percent of the votes plus one to win, or the race will go to a runoff, as it has in this case. The race is currently in a dead heat, according to the Associated Press. Landrieu has strong support from African-Americans polled, with 75 percent behind her. However, Terrell shows support from 56 percent of the white voters, with 13 percent undecided.
President Bush campaigned on behalf of Terrell on Tuesday, raising $1.3 million for her campaign this week, which prompted one Republican official to dub the election “Operation Icing on the Cake,” according to the Washington Post. Terrell has raised and spent significantly more than Landrieu, with three times as much money on hand as Landrieu before Bush’s fundraising, according to AP. Despite the fact that Landrieu is a moderate Democrat, Terrell is trying to draw support from conservatives in the state by casting Landrieu as extremely liberal, the Post reports. Although both women support the right to abortion in the case of rape, incest, and to save the life of the mother, Terrell hopes to eventually ban abortion in all cases, Kaisernetwork.org reports. Landrieu is more supportive of abortion rights, though she does support so-called “partial-birth” abortion bans.
If Terrell wins tomorrow, Republicans will hold a 52-47 majority in the Senate (with one Independent). However, the Republicans will have control of the Senate either way.
