Challenger Beryl Adams Amedee stirred up controversy in House District 51, stretching across Terrebonne, Lafourche and Assumption parishes, with a radio ad attacking incumbent Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville.<\/p>\n
The 60-second spot, which featured a Christmas-themed score, stated that Harrison was under investigation by the FBI for alleged billing discrepancies over fuel expenses and gas receipts.<\/p>\n
The ad ended with an announcer saying, \u201cThe last thing we need is a state representative that goes to jail in the middle of his term.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrison, who hasn’t been charged with any wrongdoing, was not amused. \u201cI\u2019m suing her and the radio stations,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile in Baton Rouge\u2019s Senate District 29, challenger Edmond Jordan sent out 8,000 mailers to district voters questioning East Baton Rouge Parish Metro Councilwoman Ronnie Edwards\u2019 ability to serve because of recent health issues.<\/p>\n
The mailer stated that Edwards, who was diagnosed two years ago with stage four pancreatic cancer, has been \u201cfailing to fulfill her current duties as councilwoman and \u2026 absent from every forum and debate to date.\u201d<\/p>\n
Edwards responded by calling the attacks desperate and claiming she had clearance from her doctor to pursue higher office.<\/p>\n
PAC Activity Hits Record High<\/strong><\/p>\n A record number of newly registered political action committees have been created in Louisiana in 2015. There have also been more PAC registration renewals than ever before.<\/p>\n Based on data compiled by the state Ethics Administration for LaPolitics.com, one can conclude that a total of 281 PACs were registered in Louisiana this calendar year; that’s compared to 233 in all of 2005.<\/p>\n But what\u2019s truly telling is the number of newly registered PACs, now at 58 this year, up from 33 just a decade ago.<\/p>\n The boom in newly registered PACs started last year, and was especially bolstered by the U.S. Senate race pitting Mary Landrieu against Bill Cassidy.<\/p>\n The total of new PACS for 2015 was the first annual tally in Louisiana that exceeded 50; the total reached 53, and was part of a two-year total of 111.<\/p>\n In contrast, the last time a U.S. Senate race preceded an election for governor, in 2010 and 2011, the two years saw just 65 newly registered PACs.<\/p>\n What\u2019s driving the expansion? For starters, it’s the inclusion of super PACs in our politics; they\u2019re playing in a Louisiana gubernatorial race for the first time ever this year.<\/p>\n Super PACs are allowed, thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that likened campaign cash to free speech, to raised unlimited amounts of money. Many of the PACs are being operated by consultants and funded by donors who are outside the state.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I\u2019m most interested in this year is to see how much of a difference the Citizens United decision and the super PACs will make in Louisiana,\u201d said Clancy DuBos of New Orleans, Gambit political editor and political analyst for WWL-TV. \u201cWill all of our politics remain local or will all of our politics become national?\u201d<\/p>\n In the governor\u2019s race alone, super PACs have made an unmistakable difference, raising somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 percent of all the money donated in the election, from Jan. 1 of last year through the primary.<\/p>\n Tracking The Country Vote For Governor<\/strong><\/p>\n Competing press conferences held during the week after the October primary helped draw some of the battle lines in the runoff for governor.<\/p>\n On one side, you saw parish sheriffs, a few of them Republicans, and some of the old courthouse cliques, gravitating toward state Rep. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat. On the other side was the GOP establishment, anchored by members of Congress or their representatives, standing behind U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican.<\/p>\n At Vitter\u2019s post-runoff event, the newest name in the fold, at least on the invitation, was Congressman Garret Graves, who steered clear of making an endorsement in the primary. He was joined on the invitation by three men, among others, who are angling for Vitter\u2019s job: Treasurer John Kennedy and Congressmen Charles Boustany and John Fleming.<\/p>\n Edwards\u2019 primary lead and early outreach for the Nov. 21 runoff were decidedly rural. No matter from which angle you viewed the developing trend, there were caveats that pointed to a long country road ahead for Edwards.<\/p>\n Edwards managed to win the most primary votes in 23 rural parishes that former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu lost in 2014. That was a real starting point for the Democrat from West Point.<\/p>\n The majority of these rural parishes that Edwards led in also gave 60 percent or more of their votes to the Republican candidates. Yet Edwards has always been showing that he\u2019s not your typical Louisiana Democratic candidate. At any rate, he hasn\u2019t been defined as such \u2014 unless, perhaps, he was by the TV dump that led up to the final election.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a small opening for a candidate who basically grew up in a courthouse; who has a lineage of sheriffs in his family; and who lives in what amounts to a farm setting in Tangipahoa Parish. In the primary, Edwards ran much better at home, carrying 55 percent of the vote, than Vitter did in Jefferson, where the senior senator chalked up 38 percent. Jefferson Parish Sheriff Newell Normand, who is unmistakably anti-Vitter, won his re-election by an 88 percent vote.<\/p>\n Business Marched Toward Vitter<\/strong><\/p>\n While Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne stole the news cycle with his endorsement of state Rep. John Bel Edwards for governor, business groups continued to gravitate to U.S. Sen. David Vitter.<\/p>\n The Louisiana Home Builders Assoc., which represents 5,300 companies, put its forces behind Vitter\u2019s bid. Also, the ABC Merit PAC and ABC Pelican PAC announced they would support his campaign. The two political action committees represent builders and contractors in south Louisiana.<\/p>\n Vitter received the backing of the Louisiana chapter of the National Federation of Independent Business and the Louisiana Oil and Gas Political Action Committee.<\/p>\n For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Challenger Beryl Adams Amedee stirred up controversy in House District 51, stretching across Terrebonne, Lafourche and Assumption parishes, with a radio ad attacking incumbent Rep. Joe Harrison, R-Napoleonville. The 60-second spot, which featured a Christmas-themed score, stated that Harrison was under investigation by the FBI for alleged billing discrepancies over fuel expenses and gas receipts. [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":2376,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[63,32],"yoast_head":"\n