David Vitter

David Vitter (2011)

David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961 in New Orleans , Louisiana ) is an American politician ( Republican Party ). He represented the state of Louisiana in the US Senate from 2005 to 2017 and applied unsuccessfully to succeed Bobby Jindal as governor of the state in November 2015 . After his defeat, he announced that he would not apply again in the 2016 Senate election .

career

Vitter grew up in New Orleans, studied first at Harvard University , then as a Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford and finally law at Tulane University . After graduating, he worked as a lawyer and was a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999 .

In 1999 he became a member of the United States House of Representatives , where he represented the 1st  congressional electoral district of his state, then in 2005 as the successor to the no longer running Democrat John Breaux US Senator. He prevailed in the 2004 election with 51 percent of the vote, ahead of Democratic Congressman Chris John , who got 29.3 percent, making him the first Republican to win a popular election as US Senator for Louisiana. In 2010 , he was re-elected with 57 percent of the vote against Congressman Charlie Melancon .

In 2007, Vitters' use of prostitution services caused a scandal while serving as Congressman (see Deborah Jeane Palfrey ). The matter was picked up again in the gubernatorial campaign in 2015 when a woman publicly alleged that Vitter had paid sex with her for three years, fathered an illegitimate child in 2000, and pressured her to have an abortion, although this has not been independently verified is.

In January 2014, Vitter announced that he would apply to succeed Bobby Jindal, who is no longer running due to term limits, as governor of Louisiana. Thanks to strong donations and high profile, he has long been considered a favorite in the general election. In the first round (a so-called jungle primary, in which candidates from all parties compete together and the two strongest voters compete against each other in a second round regardless of party affiliation) on October 24, 2015, he received the second most after the Democrat John Bel Edwards (40 percent) Votes with about 23 percent, but only slightly ahead of third-placed party colleague Scott Angelle , who knew how to use an “Anybody-but-Vitter” mood for himself. Edwards and Vitter competed in the second round of voting on November 21, 2015. According to polls, the Democrat led in the structurally conservative state of the Deep South - in which no party colleague has held a state-wide political office since the 2008 elections and in which President Obama received only a little more than 30 percent approval for his administration - by a clear margin, which The Atlantic saw voters as a belated punishment for Vitters' previous behavior deemed immoral. The election campaign was extremely polemical, with violent attacks from both sides. Vitter was defeated by the Democrat Edwards on November 21, 2015 with 44 to 56 percent of the vote and announced on election evening that he would not apply for his seat again in the upcoming US Senate election in November 2016, as he had his "personal term limit" have achieved. John Neely Kennedy was then elected as his successor in the US Senate . Vitter's mandate ended on January 3, 2017.

Political positions

In his political positions, Vitter was considered one of the most conservative US Senators of the Republicans on fiscal as well as socio-political issues, who served as an “agitator” on issues such as immigration and health care on the right fringes of the party base. At the same time, his fight against corruption and the self-service mentality of politicians, described by the National Journal as populist, caused anger among party friends and for alliances in the legislative process with front figures of the left-wing senators such as Sherrod Brown and Elizabeth Warren . In the 2015 election campaign for governor, he moderated his positions and rhetoric at times.

Web links

Commons : David Vitter  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Wikiquote: David Vitter  - Quotes

• David Vitter in the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Justin Rood: 'Hustler' Call May Have Prompted Vitter Admission. ( Memento of the original from July 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. In: ABC News , July 10, 2007. 
2. ↑ Tim Murphy: Here's the Story Behind That Crazy Story About David Vitter Having a Love Child With a Prostitute. In: Mother Jones , October 23, 2015 (English).
3. ↑ Kyle Trygstad, Meredith Shiner: David Vitter Announces Run for Governor. In: Roll Call , January 21, 2014 (English).
4. ^ Campbell Robertson: David Vitter Ekes Out a Place in a Runoff for Governor of Louisiana. In: The New York Times , October 25, 2015.
5. ↑ James Hohmann: The Daily 202: David Vitter is in Trouble. In: The Washington Post , November 10, 2015.
6. ^ Russell Berman: David Vitter's Long-Delayed Political Punishment. In: The Atlantic , October 27, 2015 (English).
7. ^ Julia O'Donoghue: John Bel Edwards, David Vitter Exchange Fire in First Runoff Debate. In: The Times-Picayune , November 10, 2015 (English).
8. ^ Louisiana - County Vote Results. Governor-General. In: Associated Press , November 22, 2015.
9. ↑ Julia O'Donoghue: David Vitter Won't Run for his US Senate Seat Again. In: The Times-Picayune , November 21, 2015 (English).
10. ↑ Karyn Bruggeman: A Newer, Softer David Vitter? In: National Journal , October 19, 2015 (English).