Mediaboss Marketing

BATON ROUGE, La. --

With Cassidy's victory, Republicans will hold 54 seats when the Senate convenes in January, nine more than they have now. Republican victories in two Louisiana House districts Saturday - including the seat Cassidy now holds - ensure at least 246 seats, compared to 188 for Democrats, the largest GOP advantage since the Truman administration after World War II. An Arizona recount leaves one race still outstanding.

In Louisiana, early returns showed Cassidy with a wide lead.

Landrieu had narrowly led a Nov. 4 primary ballot that included eight candidates from all parties. But at 42 percent, she fell well below her marks in previous races and endured a one-month runoff campaign that Republicans dominated via the air waves while national Democrats financially abandoned her effort.

Landrieu's defeat is a blow for one of Louisiana's most famous political families, leaving her brother, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu, to carry the banner.

The GOP sweep also denied former Gov. Edwin Edwards a political comeback; the colorful 87-year-old politician, who had served four terms as governor in the past, sought a return to public office after eight years in federal prison on corruption charges.

In the South, Democrats will be left without a single governor or U.S. senator across nine states stretching from the Carolinas to Texas. The House delegations from the same region are divided almost entirely by race, with white Republicans representing majority-white districts, while majority non-white districts are represented by black or Hispanic Democrats.

Surrounded by her large family at a New Orleans hotel, Landrieu struck an upbeat chord after she called Cassidy to concede shortly before 9 p.m. local time. "We may not have won tonight, but we have certainly won some extraordinary victories," she told supporters, citing her role in directing additional oil and gas royalties to Louisiana and securing federal aid after multiple hurricanes and the 2010 Gulf Oil Spill.

"It's been a fight worth waging," she said. "Louisiana will always be worth fighting for."

Cassidy was expected to address supporters in Baton Rouge shortly after Landrieu's speech.

More here:
Republican Bill Cassidy defeats Democratic Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu