2008 United States Senate election in Louisiana
U.S. Senate election in Louisiana
The 2008 United States Senate election in Louisiana was held on November 4, 2008. This was the first time since the 1970s that Louisiana used party primaries for federal races. Incumbent Senator Mary Landrieu won a third term by 6.4 percent despite being forecast as one of the most vulnerable Senate Democrats during 2008. She had received praise and wide publicity for her advocacy after Hurricane Katrina, particularly during hearings regarding FEMA's response to the disaster. This is the last time that Democrats won any statewide election in Louisiana other than Governor.
Landrieu's main opponent John Kennedy garnered allegations of being a political opportunist after switching parties from Democrat to Republican in 2007. He has held the state's other U.S. Senate seat since 2017 as a Republican, having unsuccessfully run as a Democrat for it in 2004.
Background
Landrieu's increased vulnerability was supposed to be the result of a significant drop in the state's African-American population after Hurricane Katrina, especially in Landrieu's home city of New Orleans. Louisiana also elected a Republican senator in 2004 and President Bush won the state twice, in 2004 with 56.72% of the vote. Also, Republican Bobby Jindal won the 2007 gubernatorial election with 54% of the vote.
“2008 United States Senate election in Louisiana” enters the record as u.S. Senate election in Louisiana. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what United, States and Senate can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Chronology, provenance and viewpoint should be read together before a broad social or political interpretation is accepted. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 14, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7891578. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2008, 2007, 2017 and 2004.
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