In the 4th Congressional District, which is being vacated by Congressman John Fleming of Minden as he prepares to run for the U.S. Senate, several names are starting to crop up.
State Rep. Jim Morris, a Republican businessman with oil and gas interests, said he’s considering running. “It’s something we’re looking into. We’re taking a glance at it,” Morris told LaPolitics. “I haven’t even been sworn into the last seat I ran for and I’m focused on that right now.”
Morris said he’ll have a final decision to announce after the first of the year. “I don’t want to get in the way of others who are interested,” he said.
Freshman state Rep. Mike Johnson is expected to announce a run early next year, and Rocky Rockett, Bossier City’s economic development chair, is being encouraged to run. So is former Shreveport mayor Keith Hightower; he’s the only Democrat in the developing field so far, and a run by him is viewed as unlikely.
In the 3rd District, which Congressman Charles Boustany of Lafayette is abandoning so that he can run for the U.S. Senate in 2016, there are even more names in the developing field.
The latest to surface belongs to state Rep. Stuart Bishop, who has the personal finances to jump-start a media-based campaign. Bishop said he hasn’t made up his mind and is being encouraged to run by voters in the district and by his donor base.
Should he run, it would, in part, be a race of legislators and former legislators.
Two other outgoing lawmakers, Rep. Brett Geymann of Lake Charles, who has already started campaigning, and Sen. Elbert Guillory of Opelousas, who is merely flirting at this point, are both part of the mix.
Lafayette Parish School Board member Erick Knezek is meeting with supporters; he looks to be a candidate in the developing race. And retired Army Lt. Col. Greg Ellison, the general manager of Kitty Hawk Energy, appears to be in the beginning stages of a run as well.
Presidential Players Flock To La.
From the president to presidential candidates, Louisiana is seeing a number of national players moving through the state.
Ted Cruz came early in the year. The junior U.S. senator and presidential candidate was in Baton Rouge for a lunch fundraiser at Mansurs On The Boulevard. Cruz also attended a rally with local tea party leaders at the Baton Rouge Marriott before heading to a reception in New Orleans at the home of GOP consultant Mary Matalin.
President Barack Obama will have visited Baton Rouge by the time this magazine is on the stands. He arrived during the first full week in office for Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards. The White House issued a statement recognizing Edwards’ willingness to expand Medicaid. It’s thought that the visit may be an effort to offer executive support for the move.
On Jan. 19, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended a fundraiser for her presidential bid in New Orleans. The event was hosted by the Fayard and Landrieu families. Various levels of interaction with Clinton were being offered to donors.
While he’s not making a personal visit, Donald Trump did give the green light earlier this month to a Louisiana leadership team that includes Jay Batt of New Orleans as chairman and Tim Breaux of Lafayette and Wayne Ryan of Alexandria as co-chairs.
Wildlife Dept. Close To Accepting Ads
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Dept. closed the public comment period on its proposed rule to begin selling advertisements to private companies.
Last year, the state Legislature approved legislation permitting the department to move forward with the process that could eventually lead to paid sponsorships. The legislation does not spell out exactly where the advertising can be placed, but it allows for signage to be put on the department’s property.
The Wildlife and Fisheries Commission is charged with coming up with specific regulations. The guiding rules it’s published call for a much broader scope than originally envisioned.
William Guste, an attorney for the department, said the program will likely launch next fiscal year, after July 1, 2016. It will focus primarily on sponsorships and banner ads in regulation brochures, and also the department’s website, www.WLF.Louisiana.com.
The Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Dept. is following in the footsteps of the Dept. of Transportation and Development, which began selling ad space on its motorist assistance vehicles to State Farm in 2014.
A recent analysis from the Legislative Fiscal Office noted that the revenue generated by Wildlife and Fisheries under the proposed program “will be dependent upon the advertising contracts.” DOTD, through its current advertising agreement with State Farm, is collecting $250,000.
Dems Prepare For Internal Elections
The March elections for the Democratic State Central Committee — and the subsequent vote, if needed, for the next chairman — aren’t necessarily being guided by Gov.-elect John Bel Edwards, the first Democratic governor elected in Louisiana in 12 years.
By most accounts, Edwards isn’t going to be a shot-caller for the Louisiana Democratic Party, nor will he be any kind of figurehead. That’s the case according to those close to the party and the next governor.
This matches up with the approaches of previous Democratic governors; Edwin Edwards was never a party infrastructure man and Kathleen Blanco was involved with the party apparatus only from a distance.
The central committee is the guiding body for the Louisiana Democratic Party, and its members are elected from districts around the state. Qualifying took place in December.
State Sen. Karen Carter Peterson of New Orleans is the incumbent chairwoman. She will seek re-election in April after the new DSCC is elected in March. She faces no organized opposition yet. But factions of the party are still unhappy that she unseated former chairman Buddy Leach in 2012 by 10 votes.
If opposition does surface, it’ll come from that group. The sitting DSCC members who have been interviewed note they’ve not been contacted about voting for anyone else. Gov.-elect Edwards hasn’t taken a stance on Peterson’s re-election as chair, but he doesn’t seem to be working against her.
Edwards, of course, can’t completely ignore party politics. As a result, he’ll need a political director of sorts — someone who can focus on politics as the governor-elect moves his policy agenda.
The closest thing he’s had to that comes in a pair of people, namely, state Rep. Sam Jones of Franklin, who’s returning to the House and to the DSCC, and Mary-Patricia Wray, who’s leaving the transition team to turn her attention back to her lobbying and consulting firm Top Drawer Strategies.
In an interview, Jones said Edwards wouldn’t burden himself with politics as governor, and would likely seek advice from several different sources. “The party needs to get back to the center, from wherever it is,” Jones said. “It needs to reflect a governor who is center to right on most issues; center to left on others.”
In the House, Edwards not only leaves his seat behind, but also the chairmanship of the Democratic Caucus. Right now, the leading contender appears to be Rep. Gene Reynolds of Minden.
Leges Start Filing Bills
Although the regular session doesn’t convene until March 14, lawmakers are already filing bills.
All of them have come from the House side so far, and are available to review at www.legis.la.gov.
There are 11 bills total; this is obviously a small percentage of the hundreds that will eventually be introduced.
Four deal with the appropriation of funds to pay for judgments delivered against the state; others address such matters as firearm issues and the open burning of waste.
The last category refers to HB 11 by Reps. Gene Reynolds, D-Minden, and Terry Brown, No Party-Colfax, which would ban open burning as a method to dispose of explosive materials. The filing comes after an extensive battle with the U.S. Army and the U.S Environmental Protection Agency over the best disposal method for 7,800 tons of M6 propellant that was abandoned by Explo Systems.
Rep. Barry Ivey, R-Central, has a constitutional amendment in HB4 that would expand the definition of the right to keep and bear arms to include the carrying of a concealed handgun without a permit. The only exception would be when an individual is already prohibited from carrying a firearm under state law.
Pastors Group Behind Flip Of House Seat
The American Renewal Project, a group that’s plotting a new approach to evangelical politics and involves a network of 100,000 pastors nationwide, is taking some of the credit for the upset in House District 51 last fall.
That’s where state Rep. Beryl Amedee of Houma beat out former Rep. Joe Harrison of Napoleonville by 318 votes.
While Amedee also had the support of the Louisiana Assoc. of Business and Industry and other groups, a new piece from the Reuters news association stated ARP director David Lane wants to recruit 1,000 pastors to run in 2016, and 500 have already committed. Amedee, a pastor, was among the ranks this cycle.
Lane told Reuters he’s been bringing together candidates like Amedee for “two-day, all-expenses-paid retreats. There are lectures on running political campaigns, turning out voters and injecting sermons with a healthy dose of politics.
“In the 1970s, our attitude was, ‘We are not of this world, Jesus is coming, so why bother with government?’,” Amedee was quoted as saying in the piece. “Now, we know we are the government.”
The goal of the American Renewal Project is to get pastors elected on local and regional levels in an attempt to influence government from the bottom up.
Scalise Chief Of Staff Resigns
Lynnel Ruckert, the chief of staff for House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, stepped down from her post late last year, and has been replaced by Brett Horton, Scalise’s floor director, according to a report in Politico.
She’s married to Kyle Ruckert, the chief of staff and campaign manager for U.S. Sen. David Vitter, who isn’t seeking re-election.
Holden Mulls Federal Run
With Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden leaving office next year, and still smarting from the defeat for lieutenant governor, supporters are encouraging him to run for something else in 2016.
One of the possibilities is the 2nd Congressional District, which picks up parts of the Baton Rouge region. That would pit Holden against New Orleans Congressman Cedric Richmond, the delegation’s only Democrat.
Asked about the potential of such a match-up, Holden offered “no comment” through a spokesperson.
Those close to the mayor say he’s being encouraged to consider several possibilities for his future.
Comments are closed.