Mandeville-based Innovative Advertising, led by partner Jay Connaughton, oversaw 45 percent of the total media buys for President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s campaign this year.<\/p>\n
In all, Connaughton and his Louisiana team produced 30 television commercials for Trump, of which eight made it to the air nationally. Innovative was one of three firms working on Trump\u2019s media.<\/p>\n
Connaughton already had a professional relationship with Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway before the long-shot presidential bid took off. She asked him to pitch for the job in New York following the Republican convention.<\/p>\n
\u201cI started working in Trump Tower around Labor Day, and only got to come back to Louisiana twice,\u201d Connaughton said.<\/p>\n
And he\u2019s not coming back again any time soon. Connaughton is sticking around to help with advocacy and policy issues during the transition.\u00a0\u201cI think we\u2019ll play a pretty significant role in that process,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Also getting some national attention was Bill Skelly of Metairie, partner and co-founder of Causeway Solutions.\u00a0Skelly and his team managed data operations and voter contacts for the Republican National Committee this cycle. It was part of a $175 million overhaul. The RNC leaned heavily upon Skelly\u2019s predictive modeling. He ran 9.6 million predictions in 20 battleground states.<\/p>\n
The next move for Skelly will be to bring his system further down-ballot, which he has already done in Kentucky, where the state House was flipped. \u201cWe\u2019re going to expand it,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Landry Hosting Lawmakers<\/strong><\/p>\n As Attorney General Jeff Landry and Gov. John Bel Edwards continue their political feud both in and out of the courtroom, Landry is making a play for the hearts of lawmakers ahead of next year\u2019s legislative session. He recently hosted two-dozen lawmakers for quail and pheasant hunts in Poplarville. He provided meals and overnight accommodations.<\/p>\n Those who attended said it wasn’t a fundraiser; rather, it was an “outreach” exercise by Landry, who didn\u2019t appear to be pushing a particular agenda.<\/p>\n It was mostly attended by freshmen Republicans, but a few chairmen were there as well.<\/p>\n With Landry taking over the Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority, which is expected to play in next year\u2019s session, the hunting trips are notable.<\/p>\n Treasurer John Kennedy has left a void as he has run for the U.S. Senate, and Landry is now officially the anti-governor. Unlike Kennedy, who used the media to take on governors in the past, it looks like Landry could be using his friends in the Legislature to do the same thing.<\/p>\n Richmond Mulls Caucus Chairmanship<\/strong><\/p>\n Congressman Steve Scalise of Jefferson has been re-elected majority whip in the U.S. House. There\u2019s no word yet whether Congressman Cedric Richmond of New Orleans will run for chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus. Richmond told Roll Call he might make a decision within days.<\/p>\n \u201cBeing chair is a big sacrifice \u2014 a lot of travel and all of those things \u2014 so it\u2019s just something you really have to think about,\u201d he told the D.C. paper. \u201cI think Thanksgiving is probably the most appropriate time to sit around with family and evaluate where you are; what you\u2019re thankful for.\u201d<\/p>\n Hebert Takes A Bow<\/strong><\/p>\n After serving in the state House and Senate, and as ATC commissioner, the always-colorful Troy Hebert appears to be exiting politics.<\/p>\n He ran as an independent this fall for the U.S. Senate, but his bid failed to gain traction.<\/p>\n \u201c[In spite of] the fact that I did not ask for or take a single dollar from anyone this election, and I only spent $3,000 dollars, and got nearly 10,000 votes, I consider myself very blessed,\u201d he wrote in a recent email to supporters. \u201cOthers spent millions and still lost. I have proudly and without regret served the public for 25 years, and now it is time to head to the pasture.\u201d<\/p>\n When Thibodaux Took Office<\/strong><\/p>\n On Nov. 15, Baton Rouge marked the 192nd anniversary of Henry Schuyler Thibodaux taking office as Louisiana\u2019s fourth governor.<\/p>\n Thibodaux was not an elected governor. He was president of the state Senate and slipped into the interim position when Thomas B. Robertson, Louisiana\u2019s third governor, resigned upon being appointed to a federal judgeship.<\/p>\n Thibodaux was the first of 14 Louisiana governors to assume the job without a vote of the people. He also holds the distinction of being the governor with the least amount of time in office. He served only one month.<\/p>\n His name lives on today in many ways, most notably in Lafourche Parish, where the city of Thibodaux is named for him.<\/p>\n The son of a shoemaker who ran a plantation in Lafourche, Thibodaux did want to be an elected governor. He tried to make a real run of it in 1827, but died on the campaign trail while touring Bayou Terrebonne.<\/p>\n While he didn\u2019t leave much of a legacy in the way of policy, his son, Bannon Goforth Thibodeaux, did go on to serve as a congressman and U.S. senator.<\/p>\n Election Season Nears Its End<\/strong><\/p>\n The big challenge in the U.S. Senate run-off for Treasurer John Kennedy and Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell will be grabbing the attention of the same voters who were already less than enthusiastic about this race during the primary.<\/p>\n The initial election saw 578,000 votes cast for Campbell and Caroline Fayard, the leading Democrats. But the total for Kennedy alone was 482,000. When combined with the three leading Republican candidates, including Congressmen Charles Boustany and John Fleming, that GOP share jumps up to 984,000 votes.<\/p>\n The Campbell campaign will have to find a way to overcome that numerical hurdle and expand on its core Democratic vote.<\/p>\n When and where the two men might debate is another question. At this time, they will have at least three choices for televised forums; two will be Louisiana Public Broadcasting, which is sponsoring its statewide forum on Dec. 1, and WVLA-TV in Baton Rouge, which is hoping to put on its show on Dec. 2.<\/p>\n National Republicans are eager to seal the deal in Louisiana, and regional offices are already being set up to make the final push for Kennedy.<\/p>\n There will be 10 satellite GOP offices statewide for the race. That should also benefit the two Republican run-off candidates who are in congressional races in the Acadiana and Shreveport regions.<\/p>\n Campbell\u2019s most important ally in the primary was undoubtedly Gov. John Bel Edwards, who’s receiving a lot of the credit for Campbell reaching the second round. Edwards also played a key role in Campbell\u2019s fundraising operation.<\/p>\n It\u2019ll be interesting to see just how much more political capital Edwards will be willing to expend on Campbell\u2019s behalf with oddsmakers heavily favoring Kennedy. A campaign spokesperson said the governor is continuing to help and is replying to all requests.<\/p>\n Edwards has endorsed three candidates during this election cycle, and so far only one has been handed a defeat. Mary Werner, the daughter of one-time Democratic Party chair Buddy Leach, lost her bid for the Public Service Commission despite Edwards\u2019 support and a last-minute cash infusion from her family. Former GOP chair Mike Francis beat her and another opponent with 54 percent of the vote, avoiding the need for a run-off.<\/p>\n The governor has likewise endorsed fellow Democrat Marshall Jones in the 4th Congressional District, where state Rep. Mike Johnson benefitted from independent expenditures made by D.C.-based conservative organizations. With the field now cleared, the Republican infrastructure is getting fully behind Johnson as Jones has to run a campaign in earnest after getting a pass as the lone Democrat in the primary.<\/p>\n Treasurer\u2019s Race Begins<\/strong><\/p>\n John Kennedy still has to win his U.S. Senate bid before the post of state treasurer opens up. But that hasn\u2019t stopped a large slate of legislators from making very quiet moves. They really don\u2019t have much of a choice if they want to run a statewide campaign.<\/p>\n If Kennedy wins and resigns by Dec. 14, a special election for treasurer could be called for March 25 \u2014 a quick turnaround for any statewide candidate.<\/p>\n If Kennedy resigns after Dec. 14, then the special election will likely be pushed back to the fall of 2017, probably in October.<\/p>\n While state Rep. John Schroder of Covington has said he will definitely run if the vacancy opens up, others who are expressing interest in the race or thinking about it include Sens. Norby Chabert of Houma, Neil Riser of Columbia and Mike Walsworth of West Monroe, and Reps. Paul Hollis Covington and Julie Stokes of Metairie. All are Republicans.<\/p>\n Again, should Kennedy win, Ron Henson, currently the first assistant state treasurer, is expected to be appointed as the interim treasurer until a special election can be decided.<\/p>\n Supreme Court To Get GOP Case<\/strong><\/p>\n The Louisiana Republican Party\u2019s challenge to the ban on unlimited donations to political parties is headed to the United States Supreme Court.<\/p>\n A federal three-judge panel recently dismissed the suit. The case will be able to bypass all other courts.<\/p>\n It\u2019s expected that the Supreme Court could hear the case in late 2017 or in 2018. Scheduling will likely take place some time in February.<\/p>\n The case challenges provisions of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance law that, the party argues, \u201cdisadvantage state political parties as compared to super PACs.\u201d<\/p>\n Party executive director Jason Dor\u00e9, who is spearheading the effort, said the challenged provisions prevent state political parties from using state-regulated contributions for traditional party activities, even if the activities involve communications done with no candidate coordination.<\/p>\n Politico Magazine is calling the case \u201cThe Next Citizens United,\u201d referring to the groundbreaking U.S. Supreme Court case that gave super PACs the ability to collect unlimited donations.<\/p>\n They Said It<\/strong><\/p>\n \u201cThis is all part of the cultural politics of Louisiana.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Edward E. Chervenak, director of the University of New Orleans\u2019 Survey Research Center, on the ongoing legal feuds between the governor and attorney general, in Louisiana Record<\/i><\/p>\n “We find ourselves in this strange time with Trump at the top.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Congressman Cedric Richmond, the lone Democrat in Louisiana\u2019s congressional delegation, in Roll Call<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cIf we\u2019re going to be \u2018Democratic light,\u2019 we will lose in four years.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Radio show host Moon Griffon, on Trump\u2019s path forward, at the Southwest Louisiana Republican Roundtable<\/i><\/p>\n “You are going to get sticker shock because we have ignored the truth for too long.”<\/p>\n \u2014 DOTD secretary Shawn Wilson, at a transportation task force meeting<\/i><\/p>\n \u201cI was a secret shopper at one of our partner hospitals.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, referring to his recent heart attack. He was speaking to lawmakers about the new contracts for the state\u2019s public-private hospital partners.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m from Louisiana, so politics always fascinate me. It\u2019s sort of like a national pastime where I grew up.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Tim McGraw, on FOX News<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe [I’ll be in] the kitchen cabinet. I\u2019ll break out some venison and we’ll have a feast.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2014 Willie Robertson of Duck Dynasty, when asked if he wanted a cabinet position with President-elect Trump, in The Monroe News-Star<\/p>\n For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mandeville-based Innovative Advertising, led by partner Jay Connaughton, oversaw 45 percent of the total media buys for President-elect Donald Trump\u2019s campaign this year. In all, Connaughton and his Louisiana team produced 30 television commercials for Trump, of which eight made it to the air nationally. Innovative was one of three firms working on Trump\u2019s media. [&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