Boustany Jr. tops Landry in La. runoff

Rep. Charles Boustany Jr. (La.) defeated fellow Republican Rep. Jeff Landry late Saturday in a runoff, according to the Associated Press, bringing the last outstanding House race of the 2012 cycle to a close.

With 97 percent of precincts reporting, the Associated Press said Boustany was winning 60.8 percent of the vote to Landry’s 39.2.

{mosads}The race pitted an establishment candidate, Boustany, who is a close ally to Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), against Landry, a Tea Party freshman who won his first race in 2010 with grassroots support.

Boustany was the early favorite, in part because he represents nearly 80 percent of Louisiana’s redrawn 3rd district.

He raised nearly three times as much as Landry in the month ended Nov. 18, the last reporting deadline before the runoff.

Boustany also had establishment support and a coveted position on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, which translated to financial donations from a number of his committee colleagues, including Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), Patrick Tiberi (R-Ohio) and Sam Johnson (R-Texas).

Neither candidate topped the 50 percent threshold on Nov. 6, forcing the runoff.

–Alexandra Jaffe contributed to this report.

This story was last updated at 8:34 a.m.