Louisiana Democrats {Ieyoub, Landrieu, Odom} Band to Support {Insurance Commissioner} Wooley

Baton Rouge, LA, Morning Advocate ^ | 11-07-03 | Courreges, Patrick

[Theodore R.]

Democrats band to support Wooley

Ieyoub, Landrieu, Odom offer support

By PATRICK COURREGES pcourreges@theadvocate.com Capitol news bureau

A trio of Democratic statewide elected officials stepped up Thursday to say Louisiana should hang on to Democratic Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley. Wooley, who faces Republican former Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle in a Nov. 15 runoff, called a news conference to accept the endorsements.

Outgoing three-term Attorney General Richard Ieyoub, newly elected Lt. Gov. Mitch Landrieu and Agriculture Commissioner Bob Odom, who's heading into his seventh term, all said Wooley has the skills Louisiana insurance companies and consumers need in the Department of Insurance.

Wooley has run the office since October 2000, when Commissioner Jim Brown stepped down after being convicted for lying to an FBI agent.

Landrieu said he and Wooley practiced law at the same time early in their careers and he knows Wooley to be a coalition builder.

"He's part of the new breed of leaders who'll build a coalition of change in the state," Landrieu said.

Ieyoub said Wooley has built back the confidence of national insurance industry and the people of Louisiana in the Department of Insurance.

"I know him to be a man of great ability, great integrity and certainly great dedication," Ieyoub said.

He said the job of insurance commissioner and the issues surrounding insurance are some of the most important in the state.

"I say if it ain't broke, don't fix it -- and it ain't broke," Ieyoub said. "It is operating full speed ahead."

The state needs Wooley to stay on to keep on doing the job he has been doing, Ieyoub said.

Odom said insurance issues are particularly important to agriculture, because farmers and their supporting industries bear some of the heaviest insurance risks in the state.

"Agriculture needs good insurance," Odom said. "Having a little bit of experience with the other guy, we surely want Robert Wooley as commissioner of insurance."

Odom and Kyle have a long-standing public feud over audits by Kyle's old office of Odom's departmental operations.

Odom is facing criminal charges in state court stemming from a Kyle-led investigative audit that Odom has long claimed was politically motivated.

Wooley said Kyle's negative campaign style is a continuation of such political techniques, "building his reputation by trashing the reputation of others with innuendo, half-truths and outright lies."

Wooley said the public officials who stood with him Thursday were indicative that people are tired of Kyle's methods and appreciative of the changes in the Department of Insurance.

"I think this is once again confirmation of the job we have done at the Department of Insurance since I took over as commissioner," Wooley said.

[Servant of the 9]

I thought a Wooley Supporter was for playing Hockey?

So9