Democrats Barack Obama and Mary Landrieu won election Tuesday, but Acadiana favored Republicans John McCain and John Kennedy. Sixty two percent of voters in the eight Acadiana parishes cast their ballots for McCain, compared to 36 percent for Obama. Acadiana voters slightly preferred Kennedy to U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, and U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany posted a strong margin of victory over challenger Don Cravins Jr. Presidential politics McCain enjoyed strong support in Louisiana in Tuesday's election, and Acadiana was no exception. He was the top vote-getter in all eight Acadiana parishes, winning Acadia and Vermilion parishes with more than 70 percent support. McCain's closest call was in St. Landry Parish, where he received 51 percent to Obama's 48 percent. "I think Louisiana voters embraced John McCain and Sarah Palin," said Pearson Cross, head of the UL Political Science department. "That made the race between Landrieu and Kennedy a lot tighter than some suggested it would be." While Obama's level of support didn't equal McCain's, he received the highest vote total ever achieved by a black candidate in a statewide election, Cross said. Cleo Fields earned 37 percent of the vote in the 1995 gubernatorial election. Landrieu keeps close Landrieu held off Kennedy to hold on to her seat on the U.S. Senate, but Kennedy had a slight edge among voters in Acadiana. Kennedy enjoyed majorities in Acadia and Vermilion parishes, and won by more than 9,000 votes in Lafayette Parish. "It was no surprise that Lafayette went for John Kennedy," Cross said. "The real story is that he didn't do better than he did." Lafayette is traditionally one of the most conservative parishes in the state, he said, and was recently recognized as one of the most conservative cities in the country. For Kennedy to win the election would have required a landslide win in Acadiana, Cross said. "He won, but not so convincingly," Cross said. "As a result, he came up short statewide." Landrieu, meanwhile, received votes from about four out every nine voters in Lafayette, and outgained Kennedy in five Acadiana parishes. Landrieu also enjoyed a 100,000 vote majority in Orleans Parish, which provided about 80 percent of her margin of victory. Boustany blowout Charles Boustany received 61 percent approval in Acadiana to hold on to his seat on the U.S. House of Representatives. Boustany won every parish, except for the least populous Evangeline Parish, where challenger Don Cravins won by about 200 votes. Boustany received over 65 percent of the vote in Acadia, Lafayette and Vermilion parishes. He even won a majority in Cravins' home parish of St. Landry. "That must have been a bit of a blow to Sen. Cravins," Cross said. "But Sen. Cravins is young. He ran a good race, and it's very hard to unseat an incumbent congressman." Acadia, Vermilion and Lafayette were the most conservative parishes in Tuesday's election, voting Republican for president, Senate and House. Evangeline was the only parish to favor Democrats in both the House and Senate races. Party politics A sampling of polling places showed Lafayette was sharply divided along party lines. At 13 north Lafayette precincts, Democrats Obama, Landrieu and Cravins received over 80 percent of the vote. At 14 south Lafayette precincts, Republicans McCain (79 percent), Kennedy (66 percent) and Boustany (82 percent) enjoyed strong majorities. "That's the way it always goes here," Cross said. "Here in Lafayette, we have a good bit of residential segregation, and you see it showing up in the polls. "It's just overwhelmingly clear that race and party are enormous indicators of how people are going to vote." Cross said the election shows Acadiana has a strong conservative lean, a trend he expects to continue. The state has voted Republican in the last three presidential campaigns and three of the last four gubernatorial elections. Last year, Republicans elected 50 members to the state House, adding 14 seats over the previous four years. HOME |