Inside Politics

Hat in the ring

Rep. David Vitter, Louisiana Republican, said yesterday he would run for the U.S. Senate seat of retiring Democrat John B. Breaux.

A member of the House since winning a special election in 1999, Mr. Vitter has repeatedly won re-election easily to his suburban New Orleans seat, United Press International reports.

A Republican has not been elected to the U.S. Senate from Louisiana since Reconstruction. To improve the party’s chances, some state and national Republican leaders are trying to limit the field by giving Mr. Vitter early backing.

In Louisiana elections, all the candidates appear on the same primary ballot. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes, the top two finishers in the primary — regardless of party — go head-to-head in a runoff several weeks later.

Complaint dismissed

The Senate Select Committee on Ethics has dismissed a watchdog group’s charge that Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee Chairman Richard C. Shelby, Alabama Republican, violated ethics rules. A letter from the panel said the complaint “lacks substantial merit.”

The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a group that primarily has targeted Republicans, charged that Mr. Shelby granted legislative favors to Westar Energy Inc. of Topeka, Kan., in exchange for about $15,000 for the House campaign of Tom Young, his former chief of staff. Mr. Young lost his Republican primary bid in 2002 to Rep. Jo Bonner.

Melanie Sloan, the group’s executive director, yesterday released a copy of an Oct. 1 letter in which the ethics committee notified her the charges would be dropped, the Associated Press reports.

Mr. Shelby’s spokeswoman, Virginia Davis, said the senator learned in October the charges had been dismissed, but decided that they were so meritless that even publicly announcing his vindication would be too much notice. The Alabama State Bar also looked into the accusation and dismissed it last summer.

Madonna’s choice

Pop star Madonna has endorsed Democratic presidential candidate Wesley Clark.

“I think he has a good handle on foreign policy, I think he’s good with people, and I think he has a heart and a consciousness,” Madonna said. “He’s interested in spirituality — I mean, those things mean a lot to me.”

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