As Louisiana’s Senate runoff gains national attention, Democratic Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell has raked in more than $2.5 million for his campaign from Oct. 20 to Nov. 20, he reported Monday.
Campbell’s 1,264-page report shows that nearly all the donations came from individual contributions — more than 50,000 people gave an average of $44.73, while political action committees provided .02 percent of funds. In a statement, Campbell said his campaign was “people powered.”
According to the Federal Elections Commission website, State Treasurer John Kennedy’s campaign reported $2,753,041 in total contributions as of Oct. 19.
The FEC issued Kennedy a failure to file notice on Nov. 29 for not filing his pre-runoff report (Oct. 20 to Nov. 20). At the time of publication, Kennedy’s pre-runoff finance report was not available on the FEC’s website.
After a deeply divisive presidential election, Louisiana’s race for the last open U.S. Senate seat has turned heads across the nation as a last-ditch attempt for Democrats to gain a Senate stronghold, a difficult feat in a red state.
While the GOP will control the Senate regardless, Louisiana’s election could give Democrats the small advantage of having 49 seats compared to Republicans’ 51, assuming Campbell captures the seat.
While Louisiana was a reliable Republican state in the presidential race, with President-elect Donald Trump receiving 58 percent of the vote, some say Campbell has more traction because of Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ unexpected win over Republican Sen. David Vitter in the gubernatorial race last December.
Campbell has Edwards’ endorsement, while Vitter endorsed Kennedy. Vice president-elect Mike Pence is also campaigning for Kennedy, and will appear at a rally in New Orleans on Saturday along with Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser, Attorney General Jeff Landry, House Majority Whip Rep. Steve Scalise and other Republican state legislators.
A poll released by Southern Media and Opinion Research Inc. confirms Kennedy’s expected victory by a margin of 13.9 points. The margin of error for the poll is 4.4 percent. The poll surveyed 500 likely Louisiana voters by phone from Nov. 28 through Nov. 30.
The poll predicted Kennedy leading with 52 percent of the vote, and Campbell with 38.1 percent.
Although Campbell has collected a host of celebrity endorsements and appearances on national news networks, polls indicate he hasn’t galvanized the support needed in his home state to overcome his opponent’s partisan advantage.
Throughout his campaign, Kennedy expressed his support for the President-elect, running off of Trump’s popularity in the state.
Voters won’t get the opportunity to see the runoff candidates debate, although three were scheduled to occur along with a forum hosted by the Baton Rouge Press Club. Kennedy opted to not participate in the forum and a debate planned by Louisiana Public Broadcasting and the Council for A Better Louisiana, which Campbell had committed to, according to CABL. The Advocate reported that Kennedy’s campaign said Campbell turned down another debate that was supposed to be hosted by WDSU in New Orleans. The final debate planned for Dec. 2 was canceled when the two campaigns couldn’t agree on debating in front of a live audience.
In a news release, Campbell accused Kennedy of being “chicken” and “pitiful” for not debating him.