David Vitter has picked up a challenger in the Republican primary for his U.S. Senate seat. David Vitter has picked up a challenger in the Republican primary for his U.S. Senate seat. Franklin physician Nick Accardo qualified Friday morning to run against Vitter in the October election. Accardo is no stranger to politics, and has a history of trying to topple some of Louisiana's most established political figures, though it's been 15 years since his last run for federal office. Accardo ran for U.S. Senate in 1990 and 1992, where he picked up 5 percent and 5 percent of the vote respectively in multi-candidate races won by J. Bennet Johnston and John Breaux.
In a 1994 challenge to Congressman Billy Tauzin, Accardo garnered 24 percent of the vote. Friday morning, while qualifying, Accardo told The Advocate that Vitter is "ineffective as far as really representing Louisiana. We need someone the rest of the Congress holds in better esteem," he added. "We need some grown-ups."