Polls showed John Kennedy with a double-digit lead over the Democrat heading into the runoff, after Trump carried the state by more than 20 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in November. | Getty Kennedy keeps Louisiana Senate seat in GOP hands

Republican John Kennedy won Louisiana’s Senate runoff Saturday night, capturing the seat he sought as a Democrat in 2004 and cementing a GOP Senate majority of 52 seats for the beginning of President-elect Donald Trump’s administration.

Kennedy had nearly two-thirds of the vote against Democrat Foster Campbell when The Associated Press called the race at 9:50 p.m. Eastern time, with 21 percent of precincts reporting.


Retiring GOP Sen. David Vitter left his seat open, two terms after defeating a field that included Kennedy. Kennedy, Louisiana’s state treasurer, also ran for Senate four years later after becoming a Republican, losing to then-Sen. Mary Landrieu. Vitter lost his bid for governor of Louisiana in 2015 and announced shortly afterward that he would not seek reelection this year.

The third time was the charm for Kennedy, who led the all-party primary in November with 25 percent of the vote to 17.5 percent for Campbell. Polls showed Kennedy with a double-digit lead over the Democrat heading into the runoff, after Trump carried the state by more than 20 percentage points over Hillary Clinton in November.

Still, Republicans left nothing to chance in the final act of an election year that seemed to deliver new surprises by the week.

The president-elect rallied for Kennedy in New Orleans on Friday, and Vice President-elect Mike Pence visited the state a week earlier to help boost Republican enthusiasm ahead of the runoff. The National Republican Senatorial Committee also paid for field offices in the state, spent money on coordinated advertising with Kennedy, and even made a small independent radio buy in the closing days of the race.

National Democrats didn’t lend as much help to their candidate, though Campbell, a state public service commissioner, did become something of a cause among rank-and-file donors after the disappointment of the November election. Campbell raised little money for most of the year, but he brought in millions of dollars from small donors before the runoff, outraising Kennedy in that time.

Current Democratic National Committee chair Donna Brazile and Illinois Sen.-elect Tammy Duckworth both lent their names to fundraising missives for Campbell, who broke the typical Democratic mold as a pro-gun rights, anti-abortion rights candidate.

But the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee did not spend money on advertising backing Campbell. Kennedy and a supportive super PAC, ESAFund, outspent Campbell and the super PAC backing him, Defend Louisiana, on advertising. Kennedy could not use his cash-flush state campaign fund to run for federal office, but that campaign account did transfer $2.4 million to ESAFund in the summer and fall.

Kennedy’s ads featured him promising to work with Trump and attacking Campbell for supporting Obamacare and “amnesty.”

Campbell also promised to work with the new Republican president on some issues — but said he would stand against cuts to Social Security and Medicare. Defend Louisiana even attacked Kennedy for supporting abortion rights when he was a Democrat years ago, trying to drive a wedge between conservatives and the now-Republican candidate.

Kennedy, 65, ascends to the Senate after serving as state treasurer since 2000, after defeating the incumbent Democratic treasurer in an intraparty runoff the year before. He has eyed higher office for some time, including his two previous runs for Senate. Kennedy laid some groundwork for his Senate victory in his 2015 treasurer reelection, when he advertised heavily despite facing a little-known opponent.

That name recognition helped Kennedy advance past a crowded, 24-candidate primary field in November to make it to the runoff. Two Republican House members, Reps. Charles Boustany and John Fleming, left their seats open to run for Senate, while Campbell faced competition for the runoff from Democratic lawyer Caroline Fayard in the all-party primary.

The Republican win finalizes a four-seat advantage for the GOP in the Senate next year. Democrats gained two seats in 2016 but fell short of the majority, with 48 seats, including two held by independents who caucus with the Democrats.