David Vitter And Charlie Melancon Both Signed Up For The Senate Race

Posted: Jul 7, 2010 12:51 PM by Melissa Canone

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter and
his Democratic challenger, Charlie Melancon, have both signed up
for the Senate race on the opening day of qualifying.
Vitter is seeking a second term, his first time facing voters
after a 2007 prostitution scandal. Melancon is leaving a U.S. House
seat representing southeast Louisiana to challenge the incumbent
senator.
It was Vitter's first time talking to a bank of reporters since
an ABC News report two weeks ago disclosed one of his aides had
repeatedly run into trouble with the law, and pleaded guilty two
years ago to a knife-wielding altercation with an ex-girlfriend.
The aide, Brent Furer, resigned June 23, after the story broke.
Vitter sidestepped nearly all questions about the resignation,
refusing to explain why he kept Furer on staff after his guilty
plea.