<human>: David Bruce Vitter (born May 3, 1961) is an American lobbyist, lawyer and politician who served as United States Senator for Louisiana from 2005 to 2017. He was the first Republican elected to the Senate from his state since the Reconstruction Era. Previously, he served in the United States House of Representatives, representing the suburban Louisiana's 1st congressional district. He served as a member of the Louisiana House of Representatives before entering the U.S. House.

In early July 2007, Vitter's phone number was included in a published list of phone records of Pamela Martin and Associates, a company owned and run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, also known as the "D.C. Madam", who was convicted by the U.S. government for running a prostitution service. Hustler identified the phone number and contacted Vitter's office to ask about his connection to Palfrey. The following day, Vitter issued a written statement in which he took responsibility for his "sin" and asked for forgiveness. On July 16, 2007, after a week of self-imposed seclusion, Vitter emerged and called a news conference. As his wife stood next to him, Vitter asked the public for forgiveness. Following Vitter's remarks, his wife Wendy Vitter spoke, but both refused to answer any questions.  While the Louisiana state Republican Party offered guarded support, national Republicans offered forgiveness. The Nation predicted that the Republican Party would be in a "forgiving mood", because if he were to resign, Governor of Louisiana Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, would likely appoint a Democrat to take Vitter's place until a special election could be held, thus increasing Democratic control over the US Senate.  On September 8, 2015, reporter Derek Myers was fired from WVLA-TV after asking Vitter, who was running for governor, about allegations that the senator had frequented prostitutes. After Myers' question, Myers said an unnamed coworker overheard a conversation about the Vitter campaign's ad dollars at the station, possibly with a threat from the campaign to pull the ads. Democrat John Bel Edwards released an ad about the prostitution scandal two weeks before the run-off election and went on to an upset victory, winning by more than 12%. CANNOTANSWER

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