Vitter says his 'active campaign' won’t start until next year. Vitter to run for governor in 2015

Sen. David Vitter announced on Tuesday morning that he will run for governor of Louisiana in 2015.

“I believe that as our next governor I can have a bigger impact addressing the unique challenges and opportunities that we face in Louisiana,” Vitter said in a Youtube video launching his gubernatorial run. Along with the 2.5-minute video, Vitter also unveiled a new website touting his credentials and soliciting contributions to his campaign.


The conservative Republican said that for now, he will continue to focus on his work in the Senate. While his “active campaign” won’t start until next year, the senator has already begun laying the groundwork for it by holding hundreds of listening sessions across Louisiana. He said this will be his “last political job, elected or appointed. Period.”

( PHOTOS: 2015 elections)

As governor, Vitter said he would work to improve Louisiana’s lagging education system, make the state more business-friendly and also work to clean up the state’s politics.

“Through it all we’ll do it by fighting political corruption and demanding government reform and accountability. That’s a battle I’ve long waged,” Vitter said, a reference to his single-minded pursuit of curtailing the implementation of Obamacare.

If Vitter wins, he’d have the ability to appoint his own replacement to the Senate. Some Louisiana insiders say he could appoint a placeholder who wouldn’t run for reelection in 2016.

Others say he would use the potential of a Senate appointment down the line to keep potential GOP opponents out of the governor’s race now. State Treasurer John Kennedy, for example, has said he’s interested in running for governor. But as a past Senate candidate he could be swayed by the possibility of a seat in the upper chamber down the line.

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“Vitter’s going to be looking to clear the field, or at least limit the field, and one way to do that is to cut a deal,” said Bob Mann, a former press secretary to Gov. Kathleen Blanco and Sen. John Breaux. “Such an arrangement, spoken or unspoken, could benefit both people.”

And if Vitter loses in 2015, he could potentially run for reelection as a senator a year later when his term is up.

As for the 2016 race that would be triggered by a Vitter gubernatorial win, Louisiana political types say it would likely draw a wide range of GOP House members and statewide elected officials, plus potentially some state legislators as well.

Longtime Louisiana pollster Bernie Pinsonat said he expects the number of potential GOP candidates to be in double digits, with “at least three or four or five” eventually running.

Some of those candidates could include Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, former Rep. Jeff Landry and current Reps. Steve Scalise, John Fleming and Vance McAllister. If Rep. Bill Cassidy and state Rep. Paul Hollis, who are both running in this year’s Senate race against Democratic incumbent Mary Landrieu, ended up losing, they could also be contenders for Vitter’s seat in 2016.

On the Democratic side the field is less clear — and, assuming Vitter appoints a GOP successor to the seat, any Democratic candidate would be starting at a disadvantage against someone with the benefits of incumbency.

Some said that Landrieu, who’s up for reelection this year, could run for Vitter’s seat in 2016 if she loses this November. There’s also New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, Mary Landrieu’s brother, who has strong name ID throughout the state and may be a contender in 2016 if the seat opens up.

And one other potential Democratic candidate could be John Bel Edwards, who’s currently running for governor. If he lost to Vitter in 2015, he might consider running for Senate the following year.

Vitter has spent much of the past six months positioning himself as a Washington outsider, sometimes infuriating his colleagues in the process. Vitter is fixated on eliminating a federal health care contribution to Capitol Hill staffers and administration officials, dubbing it an “exemption” for Washington.

This quest privately rankled Republican staffers on the Hill, mostly because the so-called “Vitter amendment” would raise their health-care costs and essentially lower their salaries. His insistence on getting a vote on that legislation was blamed for single-handily derailing a noncontroversial, bipartisan energy efficiency bill.

Vitter is betting that his record of cooperation on popular infrastructure bills paired with his dogged pursuit of the “Vitter amendment” and pointed critiques of the Environmental Protection Agency have set him up to pursue the governor’s mansion as a reliable conservative lawmaker who can also get things done for Louisiana.

Vitter also backed Senate conservatives’ strategy of opposing any government funding bill that included money for Obamacare, defying Senate GOP leadership and contributing to a lengthy government shutdown in October. And the GOP senator still has political baggage from his connection to a prostitution scandal in 2007. Though he overcame that narrative to easily win reelection in 2010, it’s certainly not forgotten by national Democrats, who threatened to dredge it up on the Senate floor.

But Vitter has also sought to distinguish himself as a bipartisan deal-maker, particularly in his new role as the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He helped blunt conservative attacks on the Senate-passed water bill — largely believed to be generous toward Louisiana — and will play a leading role alongside Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) in seeking to pass a highway bill later this year.