Thread: Dems attack Republican as not tough enough on illegal immig.

December 6, 2008
Fleming tapped for 4th District seat
By John Andrew Prime
jprime@ gannett.com

Voters in northwest Louisiana chose today to send Republican John Fleming to Washington as 4th District congressman, ending a storm-lengthened 2008 election cycle charged by presidential politics.

With all 640 precincts reporting, Fleming squeaked ahead of Carmouche after a night of nail-biting jousting between the two as results trickled in from 13 parishes.

With complete but unofficial results from the Louisiana Secretary of State’s office, Fleming had 48 percent of the vote with 44,497 votes, while Carmouche had 44,141 votes, or 47.7 percent.

In the end, the see-sawing ended when results came in from Caddo Parish, Carmouche’s stronghold, and Bossier, which leans Republican and borders Fleming’s base, Webster Parish.

“This was a close and tight race,â€

Oh, I remember this race now. I spoke with Dr. Flemming on the phone after his primary challenger got upset at our endorsement. We reviewed the video of Flemming's comments, reviewed his campaign materials, and I interviewed him by phone. We decided to leave our endorsement in place.

W