Bush, Reagan Endorse Opponent of Ex-Klansman in Louisiana Race

The Republican Party rolled out its biggest guns Thursday--President Bush and former President Ronald Reagan--in an effort to keep a former Ku Klux Klan leader from being elected to the Legislature as a member of the GOP.

Letters emphasizing Bush’s endorsement of Republican businessman John Treen in his state House race against David Duke were circulated throughout the district, and radio commercials featuring Reagan’s voice were broadcast throughout the day.

Treen, 63, and Duke, 38, a former grand wizard of the klan, are in a runoff election Saturday to represent the nearly all-white district in Metairie, a New Orleans suburb.

Duke led a field of seven candidates with 33% of the vote in the Jan. 21 primary. Treen had 19%.

Bush and Reagan did not mention Duke in their endorsements, but state and national Republican officials made it clear that a Duke victory would harm the party.

“It’s as if Attila the Hun joined our party,” Republican State Chairman William Nungesser said.

“It has to be political favors being called in,” Duke said after Treen received the presidential endorsements. “I’m really tired of this.