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Duke has run multiple times for office, including races for the Louisiana State Senate in 1975 against Kenneth Eli "Ken" Osterberger (1930-2016) of Baton Rouge. He ran for the United States Senate in 1990 against Democratic incumbent [[J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.]], and a second Republican candidate initially endorsed by the party leadership, state Senator [[Ben Bagert]] of [[New Orleans]]. In 1996, Duke ran again for the U.S. Senate, but victory went to Johnston's preferred successor, the Democrat [[Mary Landrieu]]. He ran again in 2016, when incumbent Republican Senator [[David Vitter]], who succeeded Duke in the state House of Representatives in 1992, declined to pursue a third term after having been defeated in 2015 in a gubernatorial race against the Democrat [[John Bel Edwards]].  

Duke has run multiple times for office, including races for the Louisiana State Senate in 1975 against Kenneth Eli "Ken" Osterberger (1930-2016) of Baton Rouge. He ran for the United States Senate in 1990 against Democratic incumbent [[J. Bennett Johnston, Jr.]], and a second Republican candidate initially endorsed by the party leadership, state Senator [[Ben Bagert]] of [[New Orleans]]. In 1996, Duke ran again for the U.S. Senate, but victory went to Johnston's preferred successor, the Democrat [[Mary Landrieu]]. He ran again in 2016, when incumbent Republican Senator [[David Vitter]], who succeeded Duke in the state House of Representatives in 1992, declined to pursue a third term after having been defeated in 2015 in a gubernatorial race against the Democrat [[John Bel Edwards]].  

In his most recent venture on the ballot, Duke finished in seventh place among twenty-four candidates with 58,581 votes (3 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Election Returns|date=November 8, 2016|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 10, 2016}}</ref> Duke was allowed in the second of two senatorial debates in 2016 though the sixth-place finisher, retired [[United States Air Force]] Colonel [[Rob Maness]], was excluded because of low poll standings. Maness, who also ran for the Senate in 2014 against [[Bill Cassidy]] and Mary Landrieu, received 90,812 votes (5 percent) in the 2016 primary election. The former Vitter seat is now held by [[John Neely Kennedy]], a Republican former state treasurer, who defeated the Democrat Public Service Commissioner Foster Lonnie Campbell, Jr., in a runoff contest held on December 10, 2016,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/politics/elections/article_5bc8107e-a6d2-11e6-8011-9f0284eb23bf.html|title=Foster Campbell seen as facing steep climb in U.S. Senate race against John Kennedy|publisher=''Baton Rouge Advocate''|author=Tyler Bridges|date=November 9, 2016|accessdate=November 10, 2016}}</ref> which Kennedy handily won.  

In his most recent venture on the ballot, Duke finished in seventh place among twenty-four candidates with 58,581 votes (3 percent).<ref>{{cite web|url=https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/Graphical|title=Election Returns|date=November 8, 2016|publisher=Louisiana Secretary of State|accessdate=November 10, 2016}}</ref> Duke was allowed in the second of two senatorial debates in 2016 though the sixth-place finisher, retired [[United States Air Force]] Colonel [[Rob Maness]], was excluded because of low poll standings. Maness, who also ran for the Senate in 2014 against [[Bill Cassidy]] and Mary Landrieu, received 90,812 votes (5 percent) in the 2016 primary election. The former Vitter seat is now held by [[John Neely Kennedy]], a Republican former state treasurer, who defeated the Democrat Public Service Commissioner Foster Lonnie Campbell, Jr., in a runoff contest held on December 10, 2016,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.theadvocate.com/acadiana/news/politics/elections/article_5bc8107e-a6d2-11e6-8011-9f0284eb23bf.html|title=Foster Campbell seen as facing steep climb in U.S. Senate race against John Kennedy|publisher=''The ton Rouge Advocate''|author=Tyler Bridges|date=November 9, 2016|accessdate=November 10, 2016}}</ref> which Kennedy handily won.  

In 2017, Duke endorsed U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) for DNC chairmanship among other white supremacists. He defended President Trump's press conference in 2018 following the summit with [[Russia]]n President [[Vladimir Putin]], a position counter to the elites in both parties who condemned the president's remarks about the accuracy of American intelligence agencies. "Bravo Trump! Bravo Russia! … Russia has values that America once had and America the values Communist Russia had," said Duke in his latest defense of Trump.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/stephanie_grace/article_e18d4074-8aa3-11e8-afab-6b064babc5c0.html|title=Grace Notes: David Duke once again pops up at a low moment for Trump|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=July 18, 2018|author=Stephanie Grace}}</ref>

In 2017, Duke endorsed U.S. Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) for DNC chairmanship among other white supremacists. He defended President Trump's press conference in 2018 following the summit with [[Russia]]n President [[Vladimir Putin]], a position counter to the elites in both parties who condemned the president's remarks about the accuracy of American intelligence agencies. "Bravo Trump! Bravo Russia! … Russia has values that America once had and America the values Communist Russia had," said Duke in his latest defense of Trump.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/opinion/stephanie_grace/article_e18d4074-8aa3-11e8-afab-6b064babc5c0.html|title=Grace Notes: David Duke once again pops up at a low moment for Trump|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|date=July 18, 2018|author=Stephanie Grace}}</ref>

In 2019, Duke and some of his followers endorsed U.S. Representative [[Tulsi Gabbard]], a liberal congresswoman from [[Hawaii]], who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and has been critical of [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]], the party's previous presidential nominee.

In 2019, Duke and some of his followers endorsed U.S. Representative [[Tulsi Gabbard]], a liberal congresswoman from [[Hawaii]], who is seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination and has been critical of [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]], the party's previous presidential nominee. Gabbard repudiated the endorsement.

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