Romney wins Louisiana; 4 congressmen re-elected

Eve and Charles Clayton wait patiently in line to vote at Holy Trinity Lutheran Church in Shreveport, La., November 6, 2012. Lines at the church were long but moved quickly. Douglas Collier/The Times (AP Photo/The Shreveport Times, ) MAGS OUT; MANDATORY CREDIT SHREVEPORTTIMES.COM; NO SALES

By MELINDA DESLATTE

Associated Press

(AP) — Four of the state’s incumbent Republican congressmen have coasted to re-election victories, while the battle between Republican U.S. Reps. Charles Boustany and Jeff Landry is headed to a December runoff.

U.S. Reps. Steve Scalise of Metairie, John Fleming of Minden, Rodney Alexander of Quitman and Bill Cassidy of Baton Rouge had no well-financed opposition seeking to unseat them, giving them largely free rides to new terms Tuesday.

But Landry and Boustany were merged into the same congressional district when Louisiana lost a House seat after the last federal census. Three other contenders were in the race, and neither congressman was able to win outright in the five-person field.

The runoff will be Dec. 8.

Meanwhile, as expected, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney easily won Louisiana’s eight electoral votes against President Barack Obama.