State Representative Don Cazayoux made national headlines May 3 when he won a special election in Louisiana's 6th Congressional District, in the Baton Rouge area. His opponent, former state lawmaker Woody Jenkins, was best known for his close race against Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu in 1996. Rep Cazayoux won in a district that had elected a Republican representative in 16 consecutive previous elections.

The small town Democrat ran on a platform that championed universal healthcare for children (passage of the S-CHIP expansion vetoed by President Bush would provide health insurance for an additional 80,000 children in Louisiana); advocated an end to the killing in Iraq; and extending his state-level work on ethics reform to the federal government. He described himself as being staunchly "pro-life," a position "rooted in my faith."

He had attended a Catholic high school and is a law school graduate of Georgetown University. He and his family are active in St Mary's Catholic Church in New Roads, Louisiana.

Republicans poured more than a $1 million into the race with heavy spending on commercials that sought to tie Rep Cazayoux to Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senator Barack Obama. Also backing Mr Jenkins were party heavyweights that included new Governor Bobby Jindal, Senator David Vitter, and Representatives Jim McCrery, Rodney Alexander, and Charles Boustany.

Mr Jenkins was an unapologetic supporter of the war in Iraq, more spending on nuclear weapons and the black hole of missile defense, and stood in opposition to plans for providing health insurance to all Americans. He had been described as having ties to David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan, and had focused much of his legislative career on extreme criminalization measures for abortion. His opponent came across as less heavy-handed, and likely to be more effective, in his philosophy about efforts to decrease abortions in the US.

Despite his lead-footed national financial support, high-profile in Louisiana politics, and support from all the state's Republican elected officials, Mr Jenkins lost 49-to-46%. Afterward, the GOP tried to put a good face on the loss by portraying the race as closer than expected.