It wasn’t long ago that Democrats reigned in Louisiana.

In the 2000s, the Republican Party had long since seized control of most other Southern states. But Democrat Kathleen Blanco still won her 2003 race for Louisiana governor; Democrats for a time held three Louisiana congressional seats and, until 2010, the party still controlled both chambers of the state Legislature.

When the GOP expected in 2015 to sweep the Governor’s Mansion and most other statewide offices, the stunning election victory of a little-known Democratic state representative named John Bel Edwards suggested that Louisiana’s politics had enough idiosyncrasy to keep the party alive.

If any Democrats still harbored that hope, it crumbled in spectacular fashion last Saturday night.

[Of course, Republican gov-elect Landry is described as “far-right,” but it’s a good story. ~ Beege]