Politics

Louisiana House Race May Not Be Decided Before December

The state's election system sustains that suspenseful goodness

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Things are getting hot down in Cajun country.

Two Louisiana Republicans, thrown into the same House district by reapportionment, offer a classic case of a tea party freshman trying to oust a veteran congressman — spiced up by accusations of lies and deception leveled by both sides.

Reps. Jeff Landry and Charles Boustany have been sparring for months over issues ranging from relatively inconsequential port funding language to why a public debate fell apart last month. They've even traded shots over an oil rig lifeboat amendment Landry filed and Boustany's bill to dock lawmakers' pay for missing votes (which would take a big bite out of Landry's paycheck). Each man says the other is lying. And it might not end on Tuesday — the fight will very likely will drag on until December.