Sen. David Vitter wades deeper into statewide elections today when he endorses Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser for lieutenant governor against the Republican incumbent Jay Dardenne. Vitter sent out an e-mail Wednesday inviting Republicans to two joint press conferences with Nungesser, in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The senator’s involvement ratchets up the race for the No. 2 post, which figures to be the most hotly contested fall election, since Gov. Bobby Jindal is without a formidable opponent. There may be score-settling on Vitter’s part, given that Dardenne considered running against Vitter last year, though he made no moves to do so. Jim St. Raymond, Vitter’s cousin who is working with Pittsburgh consultant John Brabender on Nungesser’s campaign, says Vitter has a “different philosophy” from Dardenne’s: “Jay Dardenne is very liberal. Billy Nungesser is conservative,” he says. Vitter has endorsed two other Republican candidates who are running for statewide offices against fellow Republicans: Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, whose announced challenger is former Congressman Joseph Cao; and House Speaker Jim Tucker, whose opponent is Secretary of State Tom Schedler, who took over the office from Dardenne. Dardenne would be the first elected GOP incumbent for Vitter to oppose. Dardenne has twice survived opposition from the more conservative elements of the Republican Party, for secretary of state in 2006 and for lieutenant governor last year. —John Maginnis
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
