In one of the least surprising results of the 2014 election cycle, Republican Bill Cassidy won 55.9 percent of the vote to Senator Mary Landrieu’s 44.1 percent.
(This post could have been written in November.)
Landrieu may take some solace — perhaps several molecules’ worth — that she performed a few points better than the polls suggested she would. But otherwise, the Louisiana Democratic party is in the worst shape in recent memory:
Landrieu’s seat was the last to fall and now the GOP controls all U.S. Senate seats, governors offices and state legislatures in the Deep South. Cassidy is just the second Republican in Louisiana elected to the Senate since Reconstruction, the first being Sen. David Vitter in 2004.
Republicans now hold every statewide elected office in Louisiana. Landrieu’s seat has been a top priority for them since she was first elected in 1996. Each election she supposed to lose, yet she managed to pull out the victory. Except for Saturday, of course.
Republicans now control 54 seats in the U.S. Senate and have a modest cushion of four seats to keep control of Senate in the 2016 cycle.
Above: Senator Mary Landrieu, appearing with a political liability earlier in her term.