Letter from Washington

Republican control of the Senate got a not insubstantial boost from Russell Long’s dramatic announcement of his retirement. The veteran Louisiana Democrat had been regarded as a sure winner in 1986, so there’ll be a wild rush to fill the vacuum. The Pelican State tends to keep its senators in office for protracted stays. (In 1986 Long will have completed 38 years in office, and he would have been within striking distance of Carl Hayden’s alltime record of 42 years’ service.)

A wild card in Louisiana politics is that state’s primary system: All candidates, irrespective of party, enter the first primary. On the GOP side, Representative Henson Moore has already announced, and he may be challenged by Republican Representative Bob Livingston, Republican ex-Governor David Treen, and Democratic Representatives Buddy Roemer and John Breaux, as well as Democratic Public Service Commissioners John Schwegmann and Louis Lambert. In this once-in-alifetime (almost literally) contest, watch for one helluva brawl, with Moore currently having the edge.

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Republican control of the Senate got a not insubstantial boost from Russell Long’s dramatic announcement of his retirement. The veteran Louisiana Democrat had been regarded as a sure winner in 1986, so there’ll be a wild rush to fill the vacuum. The Pelican State tends to keep its senators in office for protracted stays. (In 1986 Long will have completed 38 years in office, and he would have been within striking distance of Carl Hayden’s alltime record of 42 years’ service.)

A wild card in Louisiana politics is that state’s primary system: All candidates, irrespective of party, enter the first primary. On the GOP side, Representative Henson Moore has already announced, and he may be challenged by Republican Representative Bob Livingston, Republican ex-Governor David Treen, and Democratic Representatives Buddy Roemer and John Breaux, as well as Democratic Public Service Commissioners John Schwegmann and Louis Lambert. In this once-in-alifetime (almost literally) contest, watch for one helluva brawl, with Moore currently having the edge.