Jindal-backed candidate loses state Senate race

Businessman Lee Domingue had Gov. Bobby Jindal’s first endorsement in a state legislative contest but lost his Senate race by a wide margin, leading some to question the length of Jindal’s political coattails.
Although he had the governor’s backing, Domingue took a drubbing, getting handily defeated by Republican lawyer Dan Claitor in the weekend runoff for the Baton Rouge-based state Senate seat. Claitor received 66 percent of the vote while Domingue got only 34 percent, according to complete but unofficial returns from the Secretary of State’s Office.
It was the first legislative race in which the Republican Jindal endorsed one GOP candidate over another. Some observers questioned why Jindal got involved in a race between members of his own party.
Jeffrey Sadow, an associate professor of political science at Louisiana State University-Shreveport, called the election “an embarrassing political setback” for Jindal.
“Jindal had little to gain politically by favoring one Republican over another and, with Claitor’s victory, now has created a legislator who will be somewhat less than gung-ho about his agenda even if they largely share policy preferences,” Sadow wrote in his conservative political blog.
Jindal recorded automated phone calls in support of Domingue that blanketed the district in the days before Saturday’s election. The governor also attended a Domingue fundraiser to support him. Jindal should know the district well: He grew up there.
“Lee Domingue is a friend, and I was happy to support him in his campaign for state Senate,” Jindal said in a statement Monday, when asked about Domingue’s loss.
Jindal’s spokeswoman, Melissa Sellers, said late Monday that the governor looked forward to working with Claitor.
After the results rolled in, political analysts said Domingue’s overwhelming defeat wasted Jindal’s political capital and raised questions about his judgment. The endorsement attracted attention well outside Baton Rouge.
Clancy DuBos, a New Orleans political analyst and editor of the newspaper Gambit Weekly, said the support was a blow to Jindal’s reputation.
“The governor’s political foes are crowing at this development, saying it exposes a major chink in his armor. At a minimum, it shows Jindal to have limited coattails and flawed political judgment,” DuBos wrote.
But Pearson Cross, a political scientist at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said he doubted Domingue’s loss will ultimately harm Jindal’s clout.
“I hesitate to read too much into this,” he said Monday.
He said the endorsement mattered less because it was a race among Republicans and because it became an attack-laden election in which Domingue was accused of having a poor voting record.