Editing David Vitter (section)

==Early political career==
===Louisiana House of Representatives===
Vitter was a member of the [[Louisiana House of Representatives]] from 1992 to 1999.

Vitter has argued for ethics reform and [[term limits]] since he was in the Louisiana Legislature in the early 1990s.<ref>{{cite news|date=July 12, 2007|last=Crouere|first=Jeff|url=http://blog.nola.com/jeff_crouere/2007/07/the_rise_and_fall_of_david_vit.html|title=The Rise and Fall of David Vitter|newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune]]|access-date=May 8, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080506213646/http://blog.nola.com/jeff_crouere/2007/07/the_rise_and_fall_of_david_vit.html|archive-date=May 6, 2008|url-status=dead}}</ref> As a Louisiana state legislator, Vitter successfully pushed through a term limits amendment to the state constitution to oust the largely Democratic legislature.<ref name="NYT071408">{{cite news|date=April 29, 1999|last=Sack|first=Kevin|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1999/04/29/us/louisiana-gop-facing-david-duke-again.html?pagewanted=2|title=Louisiana G.O.P. Facing David Duke, Again|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=July 14, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=July 11, 2007|last=Nossiter|first=Adam|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/11/us/11vitter.html?fta=y|title=A Senator's Moral High Ground Gets a Little Shaky|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=July 14, 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|date=September 9, 2007|last=Hasten|first=Mike|url=http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/NEWS01/709090347|title=Republicans set sights on control of La. House|newspaper=The Town Talk|access-date=July 14, 2008|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130204221735/http://www.thetowntalk.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070909/NEWS01/709090347|archive-date=February 4, 2013}}</ref><ref name="LC" /> The first election legislators affected by the reform [[Louisiana state elections, 2007|occurred in 2007]].<ref>{{cite news|date=October 30, 2007|last=Barrow|first=Bill|url=http://www.nola.com/elections/index.ssf/2007/09/term_limits_arent_gop_bonanza.html|title=Term limits aren't GOP bonanza|newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune]]|access-date=July 14, 2008}}</ref> In order to leverage the term limits advantage in that election, Vitter formed a [[Political Action Committee]] with the goal of winning a legislative Republican majority.<ref>{{cite news|date=August 5, 2007|last=Barrow|first=Bill|url=http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/47395/54420.html|title=Quest for La. House will look past Vitter|newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune]]|access-date=July 14, 2008|quote=Vitter's effectiveness for raising the profile of Republican candidates in state legislative races has dissolved|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723112911/http://www.bbvforums.org/forums/messages/47395/54420.html|archive-date=July 23, 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|date=December 6, 2007|url=http://louisianaconservative.com/?p=361|title=The 2007 Elections – Effect of Term Limits (Part I)|publisher=LouisianaConservative.com|access-date=July 14, 2008|quote=The LCRM also suffered somewhat of a setback ... when stories arose regarding Senator Vitter's involvement with prostitutes....|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219110131/http://louisianaconservative.com/?p=361|archive-date=December 19, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref> While the Republicans saw gains, the Democrats maintained majority control.<ref name="LC">{{cite web|date=December 6, 2007|url=http://louisianaconservative.com/?p=361|title=The 2007 Elections – Effect of Term Limits (Part I)|publisher=LouisianaConservative.com|access-date=July 14, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219110131/http://louisianaconservative.com/?p=361|archive-date=December 19, 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Vitter opposed gambling during his tenure in the Louisiana House.<ref>{{cite news |last=Applebome |first=Peter |author-link=Peter Applebome |date=June 12, 1994 |title=Legal Gambling Bedevils Louisiana |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/06/12/us/legal-gambling-bedevils-louisiana.html |access-date=April 21, 2008 |newspaper=The New York Times}} Louisiana has long experience with gambling as a political issue''';''' see, e.g., [[Francis Grevemberg]].</ref>

===United States House of Representatives===
Vitter won a special election to [[Louisiana's 1st congressional district special election, 1999|Louisiana's 1st congressional district in 1999]], succeeding Republican U.S. Representative [[Bob Livingston]], who resigned after disclosure that he had committed [[adultery]]. In the initial vote on May 1, 1999,<ref>Stuart Rothenberg, [http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/analysis/rothenberg/1999/04/13/ "Hot race for Livingston's Louisiana House seat"], ''CNN'', April 13, 1999</ref> former Congressman and Governor [[David C. Treen]] finished first with 36,719 votes (25 percent). Vitter was second, with 31,741 (22 percent), and [[white nationalism|white nationalist]] [[David Duke]] finished third with 28,055 votes (19 percent). Monica L. Monica, a Republican [[ophthalmologist]], had 16 percent; State Representative [[Bill Strain]], a conservative Democrat, finished fifth with 11 percent; and [[Rob Couhig]], a Republican lawyer and the owner of New Orleans's minor league baseball team, garnered 6 percent.<ref>Kevin Sack, [https://www.nytimes.com/1999/05/03/us/david-duke-misses-louisiana-runoff-but-has-strong-showing.html "David Duke Misses Louisiana Runoff but Has Strong Showing"], ''The New York Times'', May 3, 1999</ref> In the runoff, Vitter defeated Treen 51–49 percent.<ref name="Almanac of American Politics-2005"/>

In 2000 and 2002, Vitter was re-elected with more than 80 percent of the vote in what had become a safe Republican district.<ref name="Almanac of American Politics-2005">{{cite web|date=June 25, 2005|url=http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/almanac/2006/people/la/las2.htm|title=Almanac of American Politics|access-date=December 7, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614023100/http://nationaljournal.com/pubs/almanac/2006/people/la/las2.htm|archive-date=June 14, 2011}}</ref>

In 2001, Vitter co-authored legislation to restrict the number of physicians allowed to prescribe [[RU-486]], a drug used in medical abortions. The bill died in committee.<ref>{{cite web|date=February 7, 2001|url=http://www.kaisernetwork.org/daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=2709|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020301140327/http://www.kaisernetwork.org/Daily_reports/rep_index.cfm?DR_ID=2709|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 1, 2002|title=Kaiser Daily Women's Health Policy|publisher=[[Kaiser Permanente]]|access-date=December 10, 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.govtrack.us/congress/bill.xpd?bill=h107-482|title=H.R. 482 [107th]: RU-486 Patient Health and Safety Protection Act|publisher=GovTrack|access-date=December 10, 2007}}</ref>

In 2003, Vitter proposed to amend the [[U.S. Constitution]] to ban [[same-sex marriage]].<ref>[http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.J.RES.56.IH: Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to marriage. (Introduced in House), HJ 56 IH, 108th CONGRESS, H. J. RES. 56] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151019003738/http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c108:H.J.RES.56.IH: |date=October 19, 2015 }} May 21, 2003, Mrs. MUSGRAVE (for herself, Mr. HALL, Mr. MCINTYRE, Mr. PETERSON of Minnesota, Mrs. JO ANN DAVIS of Virginia, and Mr. VITTER)</ref> In 2004, he said, "This is a real outrage. The [[Cinema of the United States|Hollywood]] [[political left|left]] is redefining the most basic institution in human history...We need a U.S. Senator who will stand up for Louisiana values, not [[Massachusetts liberal|Massachusetts values]]."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vitter2004.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=20|title=Vitter Statement on Protecting the Sanctity of Marriage|publisher=Vitter2004.com|access-date=July 12, 2007|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070715022708/http://www.vitter2004.com/News/Read.aspx?ID=20|archive-date=July 15, 2007}}</ref>

===2003 gubernatorial election===
In 2002, Vitter was preparing to run for governor in 2003, with the incumbent, Republican [[Murphy J. Foster, Jr.|Mike Foster]], prevented by [[term limits]] from running again.  But in June 2002, shortly before the ''[[Louisiana Weekly]]'' reported on a claim from Vincent Bruno, a campaign worker for Treen in 1999, about Vitter's alleged relationship with a prostitute, Vitter dropped out of the governor's race,<ref>Christopher Tidmore, [http://www.louisianaweekly.com/weekly/news/articlegate.pl?20040329m "The Weekly's inside political track"], ''Louisiana Weekly'', March 29, 2004</ref> saying he and his wife were dealing with marital problems.

Bruno said on a New Orleans–based radio show that he had been told by a prostitute that she had interactions with Vitter. However, Treen and his campaign decided to not publicize this information during the election.<ref>Bridges, Tyler, [http://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/politics/article_fb9e14ff-5f2d-5ef8-8c80-4840606d444d.html "David Vitter murky past with prostitution focus of campaign behind campaign"], ''The Advocate'', September 25, 2015</ref>