David Melville, a Methodist pastor from Bossier City and political newcomer, was victorious in the Democratic primary and will face incumbent John Fleming this November in Louisiana's 4th District. Fleming, as you read in our earlier posts (here, here, and here), has staked out a far-right position and made it clear that he is not willing to work across the aisle in Congress. He even went so far as to demonize Democrats as "godless" and "socialist" who want to create "an atheist society." Fleming's divisive and inflammatory comments stand in stark contrast to Melville's long history as a pastor and community leader. He is widely known and well-liked in Northwest Louisiana, having so far drawn strong support from both Republicans and Democrats.
In fact, many of his strongest supporters are Republicans, such as MaryAnn Van Osdell who said the following in a post on Melville's Facebook page:
[A]s someone who has been a registered Republican for most of my adult life and even a recent attendee of the Southern Republican Leadership Conference, I didn’t hesitate a moment to wholeheartedly support David, who's a Democrat. That’s because I not only know David’s commitment to selflessly serving others, I also know David’s commitment to working with people from all stripes to get the job done.
In his speech to supporter's after winning the primary, Melville emphasized moving forward with a message of "unity over division, hope over despair, [and] love over hate." With such bold contrast as a backdrop, it should be really interesting to watch this "David vs. Goliath" campaign unfold over the next 10 weeks.
In case you missed it, here's the one and only television spot that the Melville campaign released in the primary:
David Melville
