Nation IN BRIEF : LOUISIANA : Edwards Predicts Victory Over Duke

In the first debate of the gubernatorial runoff campaign, former Gov. Edwin W. Edwards said Louisiana voters may have to “hold their nose” to vote for him, but they will. Edwards and his runoff opponent, former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, sparred during an appearance on a New Orleans television station. Edwards, a Democrat, said voters would choose him despite his 1986 acquittal on racketeering charges and accusations that he is a gambler and a womanizer. Duke, a Republican, predicted he would win the runoff with support from voters who backed Gov. Buddy Roemer, a Republican who came in third in the open primary.