It’s been a week since Jamie Davis came perilously close to pulling off a stunner in the U.S. Senate race, and he’s reflecting on his near-miss. Andrew Greenstein reports.
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Outgoing Louisiana U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy says the Republican Party only has itself to blame for the losses it suffered during the mid-term elections. Jeff Palermo has the story.
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Construction is now underway on the new Buc-ee’s travel center in Lafayette. Kace Kieschnick has more.
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Jamie Davis has had a week to reflect on a U.S. Senate campaign that came up just short. Expected to lose by double-digits, Davis nearly pulled off a major upset, losing to Julia Letlow by only two percentage points. Davis says he wasn’t merely catching up during the campaign, he actually entered Election Day up by almost 36-thousand votes after early voting.
Davis says that A-I ad that a political action committee supporting Letlow released after the end of early voting distorted his image, and he says that ended up being the turning point of the race.
When he conceded the election last Tuesday, Davis hinted that he may challenge Jeff Landry for governor next year. He says he hasn’t made a final decision about his future plans yet.
In the meantime, Davis says he’s available to help campaign for Democrats Pat Moore and Chauna Banks during their respective U.S. House runoff campaigns.
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Louisiana U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy calls the results of the midterm elections a shellacking for Republicans. Cassidy says Democrats took control of both the House and Senate because voters were expressing their frustrations with Republicans and President Trump, who Cassidy says made himself a target in the election.
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Cassidy says the results were a repudiation of Trump and the Republican brand. The senator, who will leave office in less than two months, says Republicans need to learn from the defeat. He says they should focus on serving the American people and addressing their concerns.
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Cassidy says voters came away with the impression that Republicans and the Trump administration were more focused on holding onto power than serving the public.
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Today is Veterans Day. Louisiana V-A Secretary Charlton Meginley says it’s a day when we celebrate former military personnel who fought to protect our freedoms.
Secretary Meginley says Veterans Day is also a day when younger people can meet and honor those who fought in prior battles such as Vietnam and the Persian Gulf.
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Meginley says Veterans is a day when Veterans can also pass their wisdom back down to younger people and perhaps inspire them into military careers.
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Veterans Day is actually one of three holidays which honors military personnel, and they often get mixed up with one another. Veterans Day honors former military personnel who are still alive, Memorial Day honors former military personnel who are deceased, and Armed Forces Day honors military personnel currently serving.
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Construction is finally underway on a Buc-ee’s travel center in Lafayette. The 82-million-dollar development is located off the Louisiana Avenue exit on Interstate 10. Lafayette Economic Development Authority President Mandi Mitchell says Buc-ee’s has been interested in bringing one of its mega-sized travel centers to south Louisiana for several years.
Mitchell worked with regional agencies to put together an incentive package to land the project. The development also required a massive amount of dirt to raise the property, along with 12-million dollars in improvements to the I-10-Louisiana Avenue interchange.
Mitchell expects the Buc-ee’s to open in February 2028.
The 74-thousand-square-foot travel center is expected to employ more than 100 people. Plans call for about 120 gas pumps and 700 parking spaces.
Mitchell says the Buc-ee’s is also expected to generate one-point-five million dollars a year in sales tax revenue.
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The Buc-ee’s under construction along I-20 in Ruston, meanwhile, is expected to open in April.
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UL Lafayette heads to Monroe to face the Warhawks on national television Thursday night. The Cajuns clinched a ninth straight bowl appearance Saturday, but coach Michael Desormeaux says that doesn’t mean his team will stop chasing a championship. He says he doesn’t know or care what it will take to contend for the Sun Belt, but his team will give its best every week.
Cajuns quarterback Lunch Winfield threw for almost 150 yards and a touchdown and ran for nearly 100 yards and another score last week. Desormeaux says he believes Winfield can have a similar performance on Thursday, and even if he can make mistakes, his competitive spirit is elite.
The Cajuns and Warhawks kick off at 8 p.m. on ESPN2.
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LSU Safety Ty Benefield said you’d be a weirdo not to want to get the bad taste of the Alabama loss out of your mouth as soon as possible. The Tigers will have the chance to do just that against Texas this weekend. He says the loss has given the team a sense of urgency to want to get back on the field and play better.
With three losses, LSU’s playoff hopes are slim, but the Tigers still have a chance at the postseason if they can come away with wins against Texas and Tennessee. Benefield says the team is taking it one game at a time, but it also helps to know that it’s now or never.
Saturday’s game will be the final one in Tiger Stadium this season. Benefield is a senior who transferred to LSU from Boise State for his final season. He says imagining his final game in Death Valley makes him reflect on not just his time in Baton Rouge but his whole college career.
Kickoff in Tiger Stadium is at 6:30.