Outside the Beltway

Democratic Candidate For Louisiana Governor Goes There, Hits Vitter Over Prostitution Scandal

Doug Mataconis · Sunday, November 8, 2015 · 3 comments

It didn’t take too long for the runoff for Louisiana Governor to go where pretty much everyone assumed it would:

Democratic Louisiana gubernatorial candidate John Bel Edwards resurfaced rival and U.S. Sen David Vitter’s (R) 2007 prostitution scandal in a TV ad released Friday.

The 30-second spot contrasts Edwards’ service as an Army Ranger with Vitter’s connection to the so-called “D.C. Madam” scandal. The ad’s narrator claims Vitter took a call from a prostitute “minutes after he skipped a vote honoring 28 soldiers who gave their lives in defense of our freedom.”

“David Vitter chose prostitutes over patriots,” the ad’s narrator says. “Now, the choice is yours.”

Vitter admitted to committing a “very serious sin” after his phone number appeared on the client list of the “D.C. Madam” in 2007.

The ad will begin running statewide Saturday during the Louisiana State University-Alabama football game, according to the Edwards campaign.

Here’s the ad:

This news comes on the heels of the decision of Louisiana’s Republican Lieutenant Governor to endorse Democrat Edwards over Vitter, and a new poll that shows Edwards leading Vitter by eight points.