Incumbent Louisiana Sen. Mary Landrieu and her Republican rival State Treasurer John Kennedy both addressed the nation's chaotic fiscal downturn in their final days of campaigning.
 Landrieu, a two-term incumbent who has faced a strong GOP challenge for her Senate seat, told voters she planned to work on lowering health insurance premiums and developing infrastructure projects to create jobs, according to the News-Star of Monroe, La.
Kennedy said that he would work to keep Congress from raising taxes and help voters get out of the recession, according to the Daily Comet of Lafourche, La.
During the last week of October, the two also touted different polls examining the competitiveness of the race.
Kennedy's campaign released results of an internal poll that placed him behind Landrieu by one percentage point. The survey of 900 likely voters, conducted by OnMessage, Inc., the week of Oct. 27, gave Landrieu 45 percent of the vote and Kennedy 44 percent, the Times-Picayune of New Orleans reported.
Loyola University pollster Ed Renwick released results of another poll Oct. 31, which placed Landrieu in the lead by 15 points -- 49 to 34 percent. Seventeen percent answered undecided or did not want to answer the question. This poll surveyed 500 registered voters with landlines between Oct. 24 and 26. The margin of error was 4.5 percentage points.
"The poll is certainly encouraging and shows that Sen. Landrieu's message of fighting and delivering for Louisiana is resonating with voters, but it is still just a poll," Landrieu spokesman Scott Schneider said about the Loyola University poll, according to the AP. "The only poll that matters will be on Nov. 4."
In another push by Kennedy to gain steam before Election Day, he released an ad Oct. 22 announcing his endorsement by fellow Republican Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, a popular state leader.
According to The News-Star, Kennedy knew of the coveted endorsement for months, but his campaign waited for a strategic moment to release it.
"We've made a fresh start in Louisiana, and we need a fresh start in Washington, too. John Kennedy in Washington. Now that's the change we need," Jindal said in the ad, according to The News-Star.
The AP reports that Landrieu's campaign e-mailed supporters asking for donations in the last week of October, calling the race "more likely to be a nail-biter than a double-digit blowout."
Ever since Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated the Gulf Coast in 2005, the heavily Democratic black vote in the state has waned significantly. A majority of the African American population relocated from New Orleans and other cities to places mostly outside of Louisiana, thereby heavily reducing the state's Democratic electorate.
If the Loyola University poll results accurately reflect voter sentiment, Landrieu has a strong lead among black voters -- 79 percent to Kennedy's eight percent. Thirty percent of respondents were black, reflecting registration rolls, WWL-TV reported.
Like many other states, the Bayou State saw a significant number of early voters, some of whom stood in lines for up to five hours. According to the Associated Press, nine percent of Louisiana's 2.9 million voters cast ballots in advance of Nov. 4, setting a new record.
Officials said reasons for the increased popularity of early balloting include strong interest in the presidential race, greater awareness of early voting and more days and locations to cast early ballots, the AP and the Daily Comet reported.
-- -- By Veronica Zaragovia, Online NewsHour
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