Legislator Leads Louisiana Gubernatorial Race

Mike Foster, a little-known legislator until he switched to the Republican Party last month and launched an advertising blitz preaching conservatism, won a runoff spot in Saturday’s primary to succeed Louisiana Gov. Edwin W. Edwards.

Three other candidates, including former Republican Gov. Buddy Roemer and Rep. Cleo Fields (D-La.), the only black candidate, fought for the second spot in the likely runoff.

No candidate was expected to get more than 50% of the vote and win outright. Exit polls earlier had projected that Foster, a self-made millionaire who won the endorsement of ex-Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke, would win the top runoff spot Nov. 18.

Those same polls by two New Orleans television stations showed Roemer and state Treasurer Mary Landrieu, a Democrat and daughter of a former New Orleans mayor, in a close race for the second runoff spot.

With 65% of the vote counted, Foster had 249,555 votes, or 25%; Fields (D-La.), 193,678, or 20%; Landrieu, 189,946 or 19%, and Roemer, 186,183, or 19%.

Fields was thought to have a shot at the runoff if he won most of the black vote. Of the state’s 2.3 million voters, about one-third are black.

In all, 16 candidates vied to succeed Edwards, the populist Democrat who is retiring in January after dominating Louisiana politics for a quarter-century. In Louisiana’s open primary, all candidates run on one ballot regardless of party.

Roemer and Landrieu, the best-known candidates at the outset, led in all polls for most of the year, but Foster began a dramatic move just a month ago, doubling his figures to move into the second spot. In the final days, he moved ahead of Roemer.

Foster, 65, was the good ol’ boys’ candidate, best known for his legislation--vetoed by Edwards--to allow citizens to carry concealed weapons. He has also won Duke’s backing but said he didn’t want the endorsement of the Nazi sympathizer.

Foster ran on an anti-gaming platform, evoking the memory of his grandfather, Gov. Murphy J. Foster, who abolished the scandal-plagued Louisiana lottery last century.

After switching to the GOP in September, Foster, who made his millions as a building contractor and owns a sugar farm and mill, swamped the airwaves with ads portraying himself as the candidate best able “to take over a $12-billion business.”