After succeeding in keeping incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards under 50 percent, Louisiana Republicans lived to fight another day following this past weekend's gubernatorial primary. Republicans finally know who their nominee will be after wealthy businessman Eddie Rispone edged out Rep. Ralph Abraham to claim second place in Saturday's first round of voting. Now, the two men are set to face off on November 16. Obviously, Democrats wanted to land a knockout punch in the first round, and many believed Edwards was in an increasingly good place to do so, which is why we had the race in Lean Democrat in the runup to the October 12 jungle primary. But in the final weeks of the race, two important shifts occurred: first, Republican ads hit Edwards over the resignation of a top aide amid sexual harassment allegations, and second, President Trump traveled to the state for an election-eve rally. Both seemed to combine to stop Edwards, holding him to just 46.6%. Rispone got 27.4% while Abraham netted 23.6%. Throw in the other minor candidates on the ballot, and the
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