In New Orleans, which has been without a permanent district attorney since Eddie Jordan resigned in October 2007, defense attorney Ralph Capitelli conceded to former judge Leon Cannizzaro shortly before 9:30 p.m., with results still coming in.

State appeals court Judge Greg Guidry was elected to the Louisiana Supreme Court Tuesday after a campaign marred by negative ads, while Republican Eric Skrmetta beat independent John Schwegmann for the Public Service Commission, unofficial results showed.

Republican Steve Scalise defeated Democrat Jim Harlan, winning reelection to the 1st Congressional District.

Democratic U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu won re-election to a third term in a close contest against Republican opponent John Kennedy.

Representative William Jefferson is one step closer to reelection after defeating former television reporter Helena Moreno in the Democratic closed primary. The next step for the Congressman is the December 6 general election.

Barack Obama has been elected president of the United States, the first African-American elevated to the White House.

Although Louisiana's voting split along racial lines, seven in 10 voters said race was either a minor issue or had nothing to do with their choice on Tuesday. Louisiana gave its nine electoral votes to Republican John McCain.

Voters were deciding a spate of proposed constitutional amendments. With 96 percent of precincts reporting, unofficial results indicate:

Republican John McCain won the presidential contest handily in Louisiana, a state that increasingly has come to resemble other reliably GOP Southern states.