David Vitter

David Vitter
Official portrait, 2005
United States Senator from Louisiana
In office January 3, 2005 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	John Breaux
Succeeded by	John Kennedy
Chair of the Senate Small Business Committee
In office January 3, 2015 – January 3, 2017
Preceded by	Maria Cantwell
Succeeded by	Jim Risch
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Louisiana's 1st district
In office May 29, 1999 – January 3, 2005
Preceded by	Bob Livingston
Succeeded by	Bobby Jindal
Member of the Louisiana House of Representatives from the 81st district
In office 1992–1999
Preceded by	David Duke
Succeeded by	Jennifer Sneed Heebe
Personal details
Born	David Bruce Vitter (1961-05-03) May 3, 1961 (age 63) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Political party	Republican
Spouse	Wendy Baldwin ​ (m. 1990)​
Relations	Jeffrey Vitter (brother)
Children	4
Education	Harvard University (BA) Magdalen College, Oxford (BA) Tulane University (JD)
Signature
David Vitter's voice David Vitter highlights the fifth anniversary of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill Recorded April 20, 2015

David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American politician who served as a United States Senator from Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. A member of the Republican Party, Vitter served in the Louisiana House of Representatives from 1992 to 1999 and in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1999 to 2005.

Vitter was first elected to the U.S. Senate in 2004. He was the first Republican to represent Louisiana in the Senate since the Reconstruction Era, and the first ever Republican to be popularly elected. In 2007, Vitter admitted to and apologized for past involvement with prostitution as part of a Washington, D.C. escort service which gained much notoriety^[1] and while not affecting his 2010 election, is believed to have played a part in his loss of the 2015 gubernatorial election. In 2010, Vitter won a second Senate term by defeating Democratic U.S. Representative Charlie Melançon.

Vitter unsuccessfully ran for governor to succeed the term-limited Bobby Jindal in the 2015 gubernatorial election. He lost the general election to Democrat John Bel Edwards. While conceding defeat to Edwards, Vitter announced that he would not seek reelection to his Senate seat in 2016 and would retire from office at the completion of his term. Following the conclusion of his second Senate term, Vitter became a lobbyist.