Former insurance commissioner candidate now running for La.’s Senate District 16

Libertarian S.B.A. Zaitoon has jumped into the special election for a Baton Rouge, La., state Senate seat.

Zaitoon, fresh off an unsuccessful bid for state insurance commissioner, qualified Oct. 27 and joined physician Bill Cassidy and state Rep. William Daniel in the race. The special election will be held Dec. 9. Cassidy and Daniel are both Republicans.

‘I want to enact one piece of legislation … make the office of insurance commissioner appointed,” Zaitoon said. ‘That’s going to be my mantra for the entire campaign.”

Zaitoon came in third in the Sept. 30 insurance commissioner’s election, getting 11 percent of the vote, and came close to forcing a runoff in the election won by Republican Jim Donelon.

The special election was called to fill the seat being vacated by state Sen. Jay Dardenne, who becomes Louisiana’s secretary of state on Nov. 10.

Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.