Democrats hold onto Louisiana governorship

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Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards at his election night watch party in Baton Rouge on Saturday Associated Press/Photo by Matthew Hinton

Democrats hold onto Louisiana governorship

Incumbent Gov. John Bel Edwards won a second term in Louisiana on Saturday. He defeated Republican businessman Eddie Rispone with 51 percent of the vote.

How did he pull off the close victory? President Donald Trump visited Louisiana three times in support of Rispone, but Edwards isn’t a typical Democratic candidate. The U.S. Military Academy graduate opposes most gun restrictions and signed a bill protecting unborn babies from abortion after they have a detectable heartbeat. Trump still has strong support in Louisiana and is expected to carry the state in next year’s election.

Dig deeper: Read Harvest Prude’s report in The Sift about Edwards signing the heartbeat bill into law in late May.

Rachel Lynn Aldrich

Rachel is a former assistant editor for WORLD Digital. She is a Patrick Henry College and World Journalism Institute graduate. Rachel resides with her husband in Wheaton, Ill.