BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - The Latest on Louisiana’s version of the Iowa Straw Poll for Republicans (all times local):
4 p.m.
Republican candidate for governor Ralph Abraham has won Louisiana’s version of the Iowa Straw Poll.
Southwestern Louisiana Republicans hosted the state’s first-ever gubernatorial straw poll Saturday afternoon in the tiny town pronounced “I-oh-way.”
They hope the event helps determine a clear front-runner in GOP efforts to unseat Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards this fall.
Abraham, a third-term congressman from northeast Louisiana, received 180 votes. Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone got 94 votes.
The voters gathered in the local Knights of Columbus Hall for the $25-a-plate jambalaya and black-eyed pea lunch, to hear stump speeches and cast their paper ballots.
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8 a.m.
Louisiana’s having its own Iowa Straw Poll, with Republicans hoping to determine a clear front-runner in their efforts to unseat Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards this fall.
Southwestern Louisiana Republicans are hosting the state’s first-ever gubernatorial straw poll Saturday afternoon. And it’s pronounced “I-oh-way,” meaning the tiny town in southwest Louisiana, not “I-oh-wah” as in the nation’s midwestern state.
About 350 people are expected to gather in the local Knights of Columbus Hall for the $25-a-plate jambalaya and black-eyed pea lunch, to hear stump speeches and cast paper ballots.
They’ll be choosing between two Republicans challenging Edwards in the October race: U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, a third-term congressman from northeast Louisiana, and Eddie Rispone, a Baton Rouge businessman making his first bid for office after years as a political donor.
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