Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Political
Party:
Republican
Age:
52
Spouse:
Wendy
Baldwin
Vitter
Current
Residence:
Metairie,
LA
Education:
Harvard
College,
A.B.
Oxford
University,
B.A.
Tulane
University,
J.D.
Children:
4
Occupation:
State
Senator
Religion:
Roman
Catholic
Biography:
David
Vitter
was
born
and
raised
in
New
Orleans,
LA
and
is
the
son
of
Audrey
Malvina
and
Albert
Leopold
Vitter.
He
graduated
from
De
La
Salle
High
School
in
1979.
Following
high
school,
Vitter
received
an
A.B.
from
Harvard
College
in
1983
and
a
B.A.
from
Oxford
University
in
1985
as
a
Rhodes
Scholar.
Vitter
then
continued
on
to
receive
a
J.D.
from
Tulane
University
Law
School
in
1988.
He
spent
time
practicing
as
a
lawyer
and
professing
adjunct
law
at
both
Tulane
and
Loyola
University
in
New
Orleans.
Prior
to
entering
the
U.S.
House
of
Representatives,
Vitter
served
as
a
member
of
the
Louisiana
House
of
Representatives
from
1992
to
1999.
Succeeding
Republican
Congressman
Bob
Livingston,
Vitter
won
a
special
election
to
Louisianas
1st
congressional
district
in
1999.
In
both
2000
and
2002,
Vitter
won
reelection
with
over
80%
of
the
vote.
Vitter
was
preparing
to
run
for
governor
in
the
2003
election
but
dropped
out
in
June
of
2002
to
deal
with
marital
problems.
Shortly
after
he
dropped
out
of
the
race,
Louisiana
Weekly
published
a
story
on
Vitters
alleged
relations
with
a
prostitute.
During
the
2004
U.S.
Senate
election,
Vitter
ran
to
replace
Democrat
John
Breaux.
On
November
2,
2004,
he
won
the
jungle
primary.
He
collected
the
majority
of
the
vote
while
the
rest
of
the
vote
was
mostly
split
among
the
Democratic
candidates.
Vitter
was
the
first
Republican
in
Louisiana
to
be
popularly
elected
as
a
U.S.
Senator.
In
2010,
Vitter
ran
for
reelection
and
was
successful.
Fundraising
for
his
2010
campaign
reached
$12
million.
He
defeated
Chet
D.
Taylor
in
the
Republican
primary
election
and
Democrat
U.S.
Representative
Charlie
Melancon
in
the
general
election.
Vitter
sits
on
the
Committee
on
Armed
Services;
Committee
on
Banking,
Housing,
and
Urban
Affairs;
Committee
on
Environment
and
Public
Works;
and
Committee
on
Small
Business
and
Entrepreneurship.
He
serves
as
a
ranking
member
within
the
Senate
Committee
on
Environment
and
Public
Works.
Vitter
resides
in
Metairie
with
his
wife
Wendy
and
their
four
children.
Louisiana
United
States
Senatorial
Election
David
Vitter*
Charlie
Melancon
Randall
T.
Hayes
Louisiana United States Senatorial Election David Vitter Chris John John Neely Kennedy Arthur Morrell Richard Fontanesi R.A. Galan Sam Melton
2004
Republican
Democrat
Democrat
Democrat
Independent
Independent
Democrat
Louisiana 1st District 1999 United States Congressional Election David Vitter Republican David C. Treen Republican * Indicates incumbent Bold indicates winner
51% 49%
Although Senator Vitter has demonstrated his strengths in many areas in his career, he has exposed himself to potential weaknesses that could hurt reelection in 2016. In early July 2007, Vitters phone number was discovered on the D.C. Madams phone records. The U.S. government, for running a prostitution service, convicted the D.C. Madam. Due to the statue of limitations Vitter didnt face criminal charges. Following the day Vitter publicly apologized for his involvement in the D.C. Madam scandal, new allegations arrived that tied him to a high- priced brothel in New Orleans. In 2010, Vitters opponent Charlie Melancon launched an attack ad to remind voters of Vitters involvement with the D.C. Madam and the alleged sexual relationship with a New Orleans prostitute. The attack ad continued on to show a man, who identified himself as a retired firefighter, vocalizing that if youre writing the laws, you should have to abide by the laws. Melancons ad proved to be ineffective seeing as Vitter won the election. Vitters weaknesses are highlighted by the family value platform he runs on such as advocating for abstinence- only sex education, yet he has displayed contradicting values by having relations with prostitutes. He will rely heavily on his already established support base in the 2016 election. If his opponent is able to produce an effective attack ad that portrays him as a hypocrite and liar he may find it hard to be reelected. Vitter is a very bold, conservative reformer who wont be found appealing to those outside of the conservative party.