very interesting.. we may be witnessing history in the making as reality show endorsements trump conservative lines..
(Reuters) - Republican businessman Vance McAllister, a political newcomer who boasts of never having visited Washington, D.C., won a special election in Louisiana on Saturday to fill the congressional seat formerly held by fellow Republican Rodney Alexander.
In a runoff to fill Louisiana's vacant 5th Congressional District, McAllister took 60 percent of the vote against fellow Republican Neil Riser, a state senator. All precincts have reported in the largely conservative and mostly rural district.
McAllister, running as an outsider, lined up an endorsement from "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, the patriarch in the popular reality show, and cast member Willie Robertson appeared in a commercial for the candidate. The program is shot in the northeast part of Louisiana that McAllister will represent.
Unlike McAllister, Riser had the backing of a number of prominent Republicans including U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/17/us-usa-politics-louisiana-idUSBRE9AG01X20131117
(Reuters) - Republican businessman Vance McAllister, a political newcomer who boasts of never having visited Washington, D.C., won a special election in Louisiana on Saturday to fill the congressional seat formerly held by fellow Republican Rodney Alexander.
In a runoff to fill Louisiana's vacant 5th Congressional District, McAllister took 60 percent of the vote against fellow Republican Neil Riser, a state senator. All precincts have reported in the largely conservative and mostly rural district.
McAllister, running as an outsider, lined up an endorsement from "Duck Dynasty" star Phil Robertson, the patriarch in the popular reality show, and cast member Willie Robertson appeared in a commercial for the candidate. The program is shot in the northeast part of Louisiana that McAllister will represent.
Unlike McAllister, Riser had the backing of a number of prominent Republicans including U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/17/us-usa-politics-louisiana-idUSBRE9AG01X20131117