|
 Cassidy, whose victory swells the ranks of Republicans in the
Senate to 54, defeated Mary Landrieu, a three-term incumbent who
last month pushed hard for a Senate vote on approving the Keystone
XL pipeline from Canada's oil sands to the U.S. Gulf Coast that came
up just short.
Cassidy, 57, ran a disciplined campaign focused on linking Landrieu
to President Barack Obama, who is deeply unpopular among whites in
Louisiana. With all precincts reporting, he defeated Landrieu by
just under 12 percentage points, uncertified results showed.
"This victory happened because people in Louisiana voted for a
government which serves us but does not tell us what to do," Cassidy
told a jubilant crowd in Baton Rouge.
Cassidy becomes the ninth Republican to capture a previously
Democratic seat this year in a runoff held because no candidate
secured a majority in the Nov. 4 open primary.
 Landrieu, 59, had been fighting to remain one of only two Democratic
senators from the southeastern U.S. - a party stronghold a
generation ago - after losses last month by Democratic incumbents in
Arkansas and North Carolina.
"It has been nothing but a joy to serve this state for over 34
years," Landrieu said before supporters in New Orleans, referring to
a political career that began in the Louisiana state Legislature in
1980.
The top Democrat on the Senate Energy and Natural Resources
Committee, Landrieu campaigned on her clout, a message complicated
by her party's loss of Senate control in last month's midterms and
her failed pipeline efforts.
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Days before the runoff she seized on allegations that Cassidy, a
medical doctor, falsified some time sheets and failed to file others
for a part-time Louisiana State University hospital job. Cassidy has
denied the allegations, which the school says it is reviewing.
Landrieu's difficulties were compounded by the scant financial
support she received from the Democratic Senatorial Campaign
Committee and outside groups ahead of the runoff.
Cassidy had no similar problems. Ads supporting him and critical of
Landrieu saturated the airwaves, including one 30-second
anti-Landrieu video released by Ending Spending Action Fund in late
November featuring nine separate images of Obama.
(Reporting by Jonathan Kaminsky; Editing by Tom Heneghan, Robert
Birsel & Kim Coghill)
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