Say goodbye to the solidly Democratic South. It has been disappearing over the years, and the defeat of U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., Saturday is another major setback for the party.

“Last month, folks said there was a Republican wave across the country. Well, down here in Louisiana, it was like a tidal wave. It was a monsoon…,” Tulane political analyst Mike Sherman told WVUE in New Orleans.

U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, will be the state’s new senator in what in January will become a Republican-dominated Congress. Cassidy defeated Landrieu 56 to 44 percent.

Cassidy enjoyed wide margins of victory in six Southwest Louisiana parishes. Allen voters favored him 69 to 31 percent; Beauregard, 79-21; Calcasieu, 63-37; Cameron, 79-21; Jeff Davis, 71-29; and Vernon, 80-20.

Republicans also won two Louisiana House seats.

Garret Graves, a former adviser to Gov. Bobby Jindal, defeated former Gov. Edwin W. Edwin in the Baton Rouge-based 6th Congressional District. Graves polled 62 percent of the votes to 38 percent for Edwards, who said he would never run for public office again.

Ralph Abraham, a physician from Alto in Richland Parish, defeated Monroe Mayor Jamie Mayo, a Democrat, in the 5th Congressional District located in northeast Louisiana. Abraham carried 64 percent of the vote to 36 percent for Mayo.

Political analysts agree that the policies of President Obama and his Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) were the major reasons for the defeat of Democrats across the country on Nov. 4. Cassidy tied Landrieu to Obama, and it proved to be a winning issue.

“The most significant aspect of the electorate in 2014 is the unpopularity of President Barack Obama,” Joshua Stockley told The Advocate. Stockley is an associate professor of political science at the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

Charlie Cook, a Shreveport native and credible political forecaster, told the newspaper, “Democrats are becoming a party of big cities and college towns, and not much beyond that. For whatever reason, non-college-educated white voters are looking at the Democratic Party and they don’t see it as representing them.”

Voters outside the Baton Rouge area know little about Cassidy because of his low-key campaign strategy. The Advocate in his hometown said he has a solid conservative voting record, but isn’t a tea party type.

Kirby Goidel, a former LSU professor who is now at Texas A&M, told the newspaper, “He (Cassidy) really does have an interesting record of public service, suggesting a compassionate conservatism and a willingness to think outside of party lines that is sorely needed in the Republican Party and in Washington.”

Louisiana citizens hope Cassidy will continue Landrieu’s record of giving her state’s needs the highest priority. We wish him well.(Associated Press)

Gerald Herbert