WASHINGTON, Dec. 17 (UPI) -- Republican Congressman David Vitter said Wednesday he would run for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Democrat John Breaux.
A member of the House since winning a special election in 1999, Vitter has repeatedly won re-election easily to his suburban New Orleans congressional seat.
A Republican has not been elected to the U.S. Senate from Louisiana since reconstruction ended. To improve the party's chances, some state and national GOP leaders are trying to limit the field by giving Vitter early backing.
In Louisiana elections, all the candidates appear on the same primary ballot. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the top two finishers in the primary -- regardless of party -- go head-to-head in a runoff several weeks later.
Republican George W. Bush carried Louisiana in 2000, winning 53 percent of the more than 1.7 million votes cast to former Vice President Al Gore's 45 percent.
