Trump clinches Louisiana while national result remains uncertain

Louisiana continues Republican streak that began in 2000

By: Wesley Muller - November 3, 2020 10:16 pm

President Donald Trump delivers his acceptance speech for the Republican presidential nomination on the South Lawn of the White House Aug. 27, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images)

While national counts remain incomplete, President Donald Trump has clinched Louisiana’s eight Electoral College votes, according to unofficial results from the Associated Press. Louisiana has not supported a Democrat for president since 1996 when Bill Clinton won 52 percent of the vote in the state.

Nationally, unofficial results remained uncertain as of 8:30 p.m. Tuesday. Trump had leads in battleground states of Florida and Georgia, while Democratic contender former Vice President Joe Biden had early leads in North Carolina and Colorado.

Louisiana has 3,091,340 registered voters as of November 1, according to figures from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office. There are more registered Democrats than Republicans. Nonetheless, Louisiana has overwhelmingly supported Republicans for president since 2000.

The outcome in Louisiana comes as little surprise. A University of New Orleans poll published last week showed President Donald Trump winning 59 percent of the vote in Louisiana with former Vice President Joe Biden winning 36 percent. In 2016, Trump won 58 percent of the vote compared to Hillary Clinton’s 38 percent.

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Wesley Muller

Wes Muller traces his journalism roots back to 1997 when, at age 13, he built and launched a hyper-local news website for his New Orleans neighborhood. In the following 22 years since then, he has worked as a journalist for the Times-Picayune in New Orleans, the Sun Herald in Biloxi, WAFB-9News CBS in Baton Rouge, and the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. Much of his work has involved reporting on First Amendment issues and watchdog coverage of municipal and state government. He has received several honors and recognitions, including McClatchy's National President's Award, the Associated Press Freedom of Information Award, and the Daniel M. Phillips Freedom of Information Award from the Mississippi Press Association, among others. Muller is a New Orleans native, a Jesuit High School alumnus, a University of New Orleans alumnus, a veteran U.S. Army paratrooper, and an adjunct English teacher at Baton Rouge Community College. He lives in Ponchatoula, Louisiana, with his teenage son and his wife, who is also a journalist.