Moment of truth nigh for La. Democrat seeking GOP House seat

6th U.S. Congressional District candidate state Rep. Don Cazayoux, D-New Roads, calls supporters Wednesday, April 30, 2008 in his campaign office in Baton Rouge, La. Cazayoux will face Republican Woody Jenkins, a former state representative, May 3rd in a special election for the 6th District seat. (AP Photo/Tim Mueller)

BATON ROUGE, La.—Democrats hoped to bolster their majority status in Congress on Saturday by taking a congressional seat that has been held by Republicans for decades.

With more than 10 percent of precincts reporting after polls closed at 8 p.m. CDT, returns showed Republican Woody Jenkins leading over Democratic state Rep. Don Cazayoux, about 52 percent to 45 percent.

Cazayoux led in a recent poll over Jenkins, who spent 28 years as a state lawmaker, in the race to replace Richard Baker, who resigned after 20 years representing the 6th District to take a lobbying job.

Cazayoux and Jenkins share conservative positions on gun rights and abortion, but interest groups from Washington inundated local television and radio airtime with ads attacking the Democrat as a tax-happy liberal and accusing the Republican of tax evasion.

The district includes Baton Rouge and surrounding parishes. Secretary of State Jay Dardenne had predicted low voter turnout, between 15 percent and 20 percent.

If Cazayoux wins in the 6th District, Louisiana's seven-member delegation would have three Democrats for the first time since 2004, and for only the second time in 12 years.

Meanwhile, voters in suburban New Orleans cast ballots in another congressional special election, which Republican state Sen. Steve Scalise was expected to win easily. Scalise, of Jefferson, faced college professor Gilda Reed, a Democrat, and two independents, Anthony "Tony G" Gentile and R. A. "Skip" Galan. The seat opened up when Republican Bobby Jindal resigned before being sworn in as governor.

The close 6th District race also had three independent candidates: Ashley Casey of Baton Rouge, Peter Aranyosi of Hammond and Randall Hayes of Winnfield.

Coming in the middle of a presidential campaign, the Cazayoux-Jenkins race attracted attention and money from Washington interest groups and the national parties.

"It's of enormous national significance," said Dane Strother, a Washington-based Democratic consultant. President Bush won 59 percent of the district's vote in 2004, he noted.

"If we take yet another Republican seat, a seat that has been considered safe for years, then every 59 percent district is at play," he said.

Cazayoux, who raised twice as much money as Jenkins, was attacked in ads that painted him as a supporter of presidential contender Barack Obama and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Jenkins narrowly lost a bitter Senate race in 1996 to Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and a 1999 race for state elections commissioner. His company, Great Oaks Broadcasting, has run into problems for not paying taxes on time.

Jenkins won the endorsement of the popular Jindal but has also been connected with polarizing characters.

In 2002, the Federal Elections Commission fined him for concealing his purchase of a phone bank tied to former Ku Klux Klan leader David Duke. In the 1980s, Jenkins was aligned with Iran-Contra figure Oliver North through a charity he operated, Friends of the Americas, which sent medical supplies to Central America.

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Associated Press writer Cain Burdeau in New Orleans contributed to this report.

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