Disgraced Democrat and TV reality star Edwin Edwards is facing a runoff election with Republican Garret Graves in the colorful race for Louisiana's 6th Congressional District.
With
100 percent of the votes counted, the 87-year-old Edwards had 77, 852 and 30 percent of the votes while Graves came second with 70,706 votes and 27 percent of the votes.
But the three candidates behind them for the U.S. House seat are all Republican. Paul Dietzel won 14 percent, Dan Claitor had 10 percent and Lenar Whitney had 7 percent. Their votes are likely to go to Graves in the runoff.
Edwards, a legendary figure in Louisiana politics, served as the U.S. representative for the state’s 7th congressional district from 1965–72.
He then served as governor of the state for four terms totaling 16 years, the sixth-longest serving gubernatorial tenure in post-Constitutional U.S. history at 5,784 days.
After years of being plagued with charges of corruption, he was found guilty in 2001 of racketeering charges and sentenced to ten years in federal prison.
He was released in 2011 after serving eight years. In 2013, he co-starred with his third wife Trina in an A&E reality show, "The Governor’s Wife," centered around their life together.
Earlier this year, Edwards announced he was running for the 6th district. His runoff opponent, Graves, is a former top aide to Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal.
The
state’s Senate race is also headed to a runoff. Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu, a third-term incumbent, and Republican U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy will face off again on Dec. 6 after neither won more than 50 percent of Tuesday's vote, preliminary results showed.
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