Louisiana's Democratic governor wins for a reelection
(Photo : Reuters)

This is the second time this month that Republicans lost in election in a deep-red state. In the Louisiana election, Democratic challenger Andy Beshear defeated Republican Governor Matt Bevin despite the full support from President Donald Trump a day before the elections in Kentucky. 

In a news report from CNN, the Democratic candidate Governor John Bel Edwards defeated the Republican challenger Eddie Rispone on Saturday's run-off election in Louisiana in a 51 percent to 49 percent combined votes. Meanwhile, Republicans defeated the Democrats last month in 52 percent to 47 percent margin and it did not give Edwards an outright second term as a governor. 

Loiusiana is a very important state that each Presidential candidate must show power and control especially to its Governor. The Republicans' loss in the Loiusiana election is another sign of weakness and this would affect their election bid in 2020, especially for President Donald Trump. Trump's popularity among the American voters is reportedly declining. Trump endorsed his Republican governatorial candidate in Kentucky before the election but his candidate lost by a slim margin. The same is the scenario in the Louisiana elections.

Trump also visited Louisiana in a last minute effort to show his support to Rispone and urged the voters to vote for the Republican candidate. However, this seemingly did not help. Rispone lost to Edwards and even called the Democratic governor candidate to concede. 

How did Edwards win the election?
Edwards dominated in the Orleans Parish where he earned 90 percent of the votes while 66 percent in the partially urban and partially sub-urban East Baton Rouge Parish. 

What is the impact of Republicans lost in Louisiana elections?
This might affect the re-election bid of Trump in 2020 because both New Orleans and Baton Rouge are the most populous cities in the state.

Can Trump still influence the voters in Louisiana to vote for him in 2020?
Trump showed support to Rispone by visiting Louisiana before the election and urged the voters to vote for the Republican candidate who is, according to Trump, a pro-life, pro-family, pro-Second Ammendment and 100 percent pro-America. Trump even said in his tweet that if Rispone wins the election he will lower the taxes and the cost of auto insurance which is the highest in America and he will protect their gun-rights. However, these calls and touts from Trump did not help Rispone win. This means, that Trump was not able to influence the voters in Louisiana same as in Kentucky.

Meanwhile, Edwards told the reporters that Rispone called him to concede and they both agreed that since the election is over, they will work together for the improvement of the state. One of the factors that helped Edwards to win his second term is his performance record. Under his watch, he was able to increase the jobs in Louisiana to 21,000 and dropped the unemployment rate from 6 to 4 percent. 

Edwards told reporters that "You didn't just vote for me; you voted for four more years of putting Louisiana first."

The victory of Edwards is also the victory of the Democrats. Edwards topped in the election last month among the six candidates, but he failed to get the 50 percent needed to get the second term outright. 

What Edwards showcased on Saturday only means that the performance of the candidates is still what truly matters, or maybe it proves that Trump's endorsement is political poison.