Tauzin for Congress, Hypocrite

"Charlie Malancon is a great tap dancer," begins this ad for Billy Tauzin, one of the six nominees for State Representative in District 3 of Louisiana. Melancon is pictured in black and white, dancing awkwardly.

"He complains 30-year-old Billy Tauzin is too young, a lobbyist, and a Congressman." Melancon is pictured in black and white against a red background.

"Well, guess what?" says the narrator. "When he first ran for office, Melancon was 28, Daddy was a mayor, and young Charlie grew up to become a lobbyist. Some people call that a hypocrite. Maybe Charlie just meant to hide his record of raising taxes. Maybe it's the campaign contributions to liberals like Ted Kennedy, or his friends in Washington who support gun control, abortion, and gay marriage. Sorry, Charlie. We've seen this dance before."

The campy music ends, and Billy Tauzin is pictured against an orange sky.

Louisiana's 3rd District lacked an incumbent for the first time in 24 years, and six candidates ran for the seat. The Republican nominees were: W.J. Billy Tauzin III, Sen. Craig Romero, and Kevin Chiasson. The Democratic nominees were: Charlie Melancon, Damon Baldone, and Charmaine Caccioppi.


In November 2004, Tauzin received 32% of the vote, Melancon received 24%, and 23% went to Craig Romero. Since none of the candidates received more than 50% of votes, the top two vote-getters won spots in a December 2004 runoff. In this final race, Melancon garnered 50.2% of votes, narrowly beating out Tauzin's 49.8%, and ultimately winning the House seat.