Changes

On April 4, 2009, Claitor defeated fellow Republican Lee Domingue, a Baton Rouge businessman backed by then [[Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]], in a [[special election]] for the District 16  seat vacated by Republican [[U.S. Representative]] [[Bill Cassidy]].  Claitor received 11,713 votes (66 percent) to Domingue's 6,114 (34 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, April 4, 2009.</ref> Prior to Cassidy's short tenure, the Senate seat was held by former Louisiana Secretary of State and lieutenant governor,  John Leigh "Jay" Dardenne, Jr., a [[Moderate Republican]].

On April 4, 2009, Claitor defeated fellow Republican Lee Domingue, a Baton Rouge businessman backed by then [[Governor]] [[Bobby Jindal]], in a [[special election]] for the District 16  seat vacated by Republican [[U.S. Representative]] [[Bill Cassidy]].  Claitor received 11,713 votes (66 percent) to Domingue's 6,114 (34 percent).<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, April 4, 2009.</ref> Prior to Cassidy's short tenure, the Senate seat was held by former Louisiana Secretary of State and lieutenant governor,  John Leigh "Jay" Dardenne, Jr., a [[Moderate Republican]].

Claitor was an unsuccessful candidate for the open seat for Louisiana's 6th congressional district in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 4, 2014, in conjunction with the regular [[general election]]s in the other forty-nine states. The congressional seat was vacated by Bill Cassidy, Claitor's predecessor in the state Senate, who instead ran successfully to unseat [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]]. Claitor's intra-party opponents were [[Garret Graves]], then state Representative [[Lenar Whitney]] and Paul Deitzel, II, of Baton Rouge, namesake grandson of the [[Louisiana State University]] [[football]] coach and athletic director Paul Dietzel, I.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/8067542-123/washington-watch-handicapping-the-6th|author=Jordan Blum|title=Washington Watch: Handicapping the 6th District race, January 24, 2014|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=February 5, 2014}}</ref>  

Claitor was an unsuccessful candidate for the open seat for Louisiana's 6th congressional district in the nonpartisan blanket primary held on November 4, 2014, in conjunction with the regular [[general election]]s in the other forty-nine states. The congressional seat was vacated by Bill Cassidy, Claitor's predecessor in the state Senate, who instead ran successfully to unseat [[Democratic Party|Democrat]] [[U.S. Senator]] [[Mary Landrieu]]. Claitor's intra-party opponents were [[Garret Graves]], then state Representative [[Lenar Whitney]] and Paul Deitzel, II, of Baton Rouge, namesake grandson of the [[Louisiana State University]] [[football]] coach and athletic director Paul Dietzel, I.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://theadvocate.com/news/opinion/8067542-123/washington-watch-handicapping-the-6th|author=Jordan Blum|title=Washington Watch: Handicapping the 6th District race|date=January 24, 2014|publisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=February 5, 2014; no longer on-line}}</ref>  

A Democrat, then 87-year-old [[Edwin Edwards]], ex-convict, former four-time governor and four-time representative of Louisiana's since defunct 7th congressional district,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/edwin-edwards-is-running-for-congress.html |title=Ex-Con Ex-Governor Running for Congress: Edwin Edwards, the most colorful Louisiana politician since Huey Long is running for Congress|author=Albert R. Hunt|publisher=Bloomberg.com|date=February 19, 2014 |accessdate=October 15, 2019}}</ref> led the primary field with 77,862 votes (30.1 percent), but later lost the general election to the runner-up in the primary, Garret Graves, who received in the primary 70,706 (27.4 percent) in the primary.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 4, 2014.</ref>​

A Democrat, then 87-year-old [[Edwin Edwards]], ex-convict, former four-time governor and four-time representative of Louisiana's since defunct 7th congressional district,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/edwin-edwards-is-running-for-congress.html |title=Ex-Con Ex-Governor Running for Congress: Edwin Edwards, the most colorful Louisiana politician since Huey Long is running for Congress|author=Albert R. Hunt|publisher=Bloomberg.com|date=February 19, 2014 |accessdate=October 15, 2019}}</ref> led the primary field with 77,862 votes (30.1 percent), but later lost the general election to the runner-up in the primary, Garret Graves, who received in the primary 70,706 (27.4 percent) in the primary.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, November 4, 2014.</ref>​

Claitor entered private practice in Baton Rouge in 1990. He and his wife, the former Sharmaine Leblanc (also born 1961), have two sons, Sam and James Claitor. They are [[Roman Catholic]]s.<ref name=claitor/>​

Claitor entered private practice in Baton Rouge in 1990. He and his wife, the former Sharmaine Leblanc (also born 1961), have two sons, Sam and James Claitor. They are [[Roman Catholic]]s.<ref name=claitor/>​

==2009 special election==​

==2009 special election==

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In the first round of special election balloting (not an actual primary but sometimes referred to as such by the media) held on March 7, 2009, a third candidate, Republican health-care consultant Laurinda Lege Calongne (born ca. 1964), polled 4,511 votes (27 percent) to Claitor's 6,509 votes (39 percent) and Domingue's 5,760 votes (34 percent), according to official returns from all 103 precincts.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, March 7, 2009.</ref> Colongne then threw her backing to Claitor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politicker.com/louisiana/tags/dan-claitor|author=Marsha Shuler|title=Calongne endorses Claitor in runoffpublisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=April 18, 2009}}</ref> Despite heavy spending, much of it from his own sources, Domingue scored no inroads in the second race. His campaign had spent $429,709, or nearly three-fourths of its funds, as of March 15, the last day that spending had to be reported to the office of the Louisiana secretary of state. Claitor spent $154,825.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/42484362.html?index=1&c=y|author=Marsha Shuler|title=It's Claitor!: Dominigue gains only 34 percent of the votepublisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=April 18, 2009}}</ref>​

In the first round of special election balloting (not an actual primary but sometimes referred to as such by the media) held on March 7, 2009, a third candidate, Republican health-care consultant Laurinda Lege Calongne (born ca. 1964), polled 4,511 votes (27 percent) to Claitor's 6,509 votes (39 percent) and Domingue's 5,760 votes (34 percent), according to official returns from all 103 precincts.<ref>Louisiana Secretary of State, Election Returns, March 7, 2009.</ref> Colongne then threw her backing to Claitor.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.politicker.com/louisiana/tags/dan-claitor|author=Marsha Shuler|title=Calongne endorses Claitor in runoffpublisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=April 18, 2009}}</ref> Despite heavy spending, much of it from his own sources, Domingue scored no inroads in the second race. His campaign had spent $429,709, or nearly three-fourths of its funds, as of March 15, the last day that spending had to be reported to the office of the Louisiana secretary of state. Claitor spent $154,825.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.2theadvocate.com/news/42484362.html?index=1&c=y|author=Marsha Shuler|title=It's Claitor!: Dominigue gains only 34 percent of the votepublisher=''The Baton Rouge Advocate''|accessdate=April 18, 2009}}</ref>​