GOP wins final Louisiana Senate race for 52-seat majority

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Election Day 2016

GOP wins final Louisiana Senate race for 52-seat majority

December 11, 2016

.polaris__post-meta--date { display: none; } .polaris__post-meta--date.no-script { display: block; padding-left: 45px } December 11, 2016

US President-elect Donald Trump (L) and Louisiana Treasurer and Republican Senate candidate John Kennedy wave at a get-out-the-vote rally on December 9, 2016 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana

Don Emmert/Getty Images

Louisiana State Treasurer John Kennedy won his state's runoff Senate election Saturday, cementing the Republican Party's 52-seat Senate majority. Democrats hoped challenger Foster Campbell would pull off an upset victory, with many donating to his campaign as one last potential bright spot after a disappointing election season that saw widespread GOP gains at the state and federal level.

As of 9:30 p.m. local time, Kennedy held a strong lead of nearly two-thirds of the vote; President-elect Donald Trump also won the state, taking nearly a 20-point margin over Hillary Clinton. Trump traveled to Louisiana to campaign for Kennedy earlier this week, calling the candidate a "good guy" whose win Vice President-elect Mike Pence said would be an "exclamation point" on a great election.