Vitter faces 16 challengers

Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter will face a challenge from within his own party, after a former Louisiana Supreme Court justice signed up for the Senate race in the final minutes of qualifying Friday.

Chet Traylor, from Monroe, was the last candidate to register for a congressional election, and his entrance can change the tenor of the race. Traylor retired last year from the state’s high court after more than 12 years as a justice, and he carries name recognition and political ties in northeast and north-central Louisiana.

Traylor said he was encouraged to run by Republicans who are dissatisfied with Vitter, who was tainted by a 2007 prostitution scandal.

“So many people want a different choice than what we’ve got right now,” Traylor said.

Sixteen challengers qualified in the Senate race, hoping to keep Vitter from a second term, mainly lesser-known candidates and many without party affiliation.

Even if he can’t beat Vitter in the Aug. 28 GOP primary, Traylor can force Vitter to dip into his multimillion dollar campaign warchest well before the Nov. 2 general election. That could drain cash from Vitter’s campaign and take away dollars the incumbent senator had hoped to spend fighting his main Democratic challenger, U.S. Rep. Charlie Melancon.

Melancon also faces an August party primary election, but his two Democratic opponents are little-known candidates.

If that wasn’t enough to worry the Vitter campaign, also entering the Senate race Friday was a state lawmaker from Plaquemines Parish who left the GOP and registered as an independent.

Rep. Ernest Wooton, of Belle Chasse, is a former sheriff known for his outspoken comments in the Louisiana House. He said he decided to enter the Senate race Friday morning, largely because of his frustration over the state and federal government response efforts to the Gulf oil spill.

“I’m going to get a lot of phone calls, and people are going to say, ‘You’re crazy.’ But I don’t think I’m crazy,” Wooton said after he paid his qualifying fees and filed his paperwork at the Secretary of State’s Office.

As an independent, Wooton will bypass the party primaries and directly enter the Nov. 2 general election, where he could siphon off conservative support from Vitter.

Wooton said he hasn’t done any campaign fundraising and will do much of his campaigning by traveling the state in a motor home, talking to voters. His entrance in the race was a surprise. Wooton, term-limited in the state House, hadn’t previously expressed any public interest in running for a statewide office.

“I believe in this country. I just think we need to turn some heads. I think Washington’s gotten complacent,” he said.

Six of Louisiana’s seven congressmen are running for re-election, and all but one have attracted at least token opposition. Only U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany, a Republican from Lafayette, didn’t attract a challenger and will advance to a fourth term without an election.

The state’s seventh congressman is Melancon, who is leaving his 3rd District seat to run for the Senate. Four candidates are vying for that vacant seat representing much of coastal southeast Louisiana.

The most heavily contested congressional post is the New Orleans-based 2nd District seat held by Republican Anh “Joseph” Cao. Eight opponents qualified for the race, including Democratic state Reps. Cedric Richmond and Juan LaFonta.

Meanwhile, nine candidates registered to run in the Oct. 2 special election for lieutenant governor. Among the candidates are St. Tammany Parish Councilman Ken Burkhalter, Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis, state Sen. Butch Gautreaux, country singer Sammy Kershaw and state Republican Party Chairman Roger Villere.

The runoff election will be Nov. 2. The election is being held to replace Mitch Landrieu, who left the office to become mayor of New Orleans.