Posted on 08/18/2019 3:56:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
In 2016, President Donald Trump carried Louisiana with 58 percent of the vote. Every Louisiana statewide elected official, except one, is a Republican. The Louisiana Legislature has a strong Republican majority and the state’s six-member congressional delegation has only one Democrat.
Clearly, Louisiana is a conservative, Republican state but it is led by Governor John Bel Edwards, who is a Democrat. Edwards was elected in 2015 because of his opponent’s personal and political baggage, which is why his victory has been called a fluke by many political observers.
As Governor Edwards runs for re-election this fall, he has amassed over $10 million in his campaign war chest. However, he will have to answer for increasing the size of state government, supporting tax increases and an anemic record of job creation. In fact, last year, Louisiana was the only state in the nation to lose jobs and, not surprisingly, was one of only eight states in the nation to suffer a loss of population, which is mostly due to the anti-business policies of the governor.
According to a wide variety of measures, Louisiana, under the leadership of Governor Edwards, is doing very poorly. For example, the latest report by SeniorLiving.org places Louisiana 47th among states on possibly the most important ranking. The standard life expectancy in Louisiana is 75.6 years, three years below the national average. The researchers pointed to cancer and heart disease as the cause for 90 percent of the deaths in the state.
The personal finance website Wallethub regularly provides state rankings on a range of issues. In recent months, Louisiana ranked as the worst state in the nation for women based on economic, health, safety, and social well-being factors. It is most likely the worst state in the nation for men as well.
On the issue of economic performance, Wallethub listed Louisiana as 50th among the states. It also ranked the state as the most environmentally unfriendly state in the nation. In their most depressing survey, Wallethub discovered that Louisiana is the most stressed state in the nation. Obviously, the people of Louisiana are worried about the bad economy, the high crime rate, the poor environment, the inadequate health care and the crumbling infrastructure.
On other important metrics, the results under Governor Edwards have been horrific. Currently, the state of Louisiana is saddled with the highest sales tax rate in the nation, the second highest incarceration rate, and ranks as the most violent state in the country.
Despite all these problems, some analysts believe Edwards will win a second term because he is conservative on some social issues. In his campaign commercials, the governor often touts his pro-Second Amendment and pro-life record. Politically, one of the reasons that the governor openly expresses his pro-life views is that he knows the position is popular with constituents.
A recent poll by the Public Religion Research Institute discovered that Louisiana is the most pro-life state in the nation with 60 percent of the respondents maintaining that abortion should be illegal. The survey showed a mere 34 percent of the participants support abortion rights in “most or all cases.” The nationwide results are much different with only 40 percent supporting a pro-life position and 54 percent supporting the pro-choice viewpoint.
On this issue, the people of Louisiana are at odds with the rest of the nation, while Governor Edwards is at odds with the Democratic Party, especially those leaders located outside of Louisiana.
In his re-election campaign, Edwards will need to have the strong financial backing of national Democrats who are pro-choice. He will also have to convince more liberal pro-choice Democrats in Louisiana to support him despite his pro-life views, while, simultaneously, persuading more moderate Democrats, Independents and Republicans that he is truly pro-life and to support him as well.
It is a balancing act that will require tremendous campaign skills, but we have seen impressive political dexterity from Edwards in the past few years. Nevertheless, one surefire way for his opponents to score political points against Edwards is to tie him to the unpopular views of the national Democratic Party. Surely, Edwards will have to support the presidential candidate of the Democratic Party. This nominee, whether it is former Vice President Joe Biden or any of the other candidates, will be staunchly pro-choice.
His opponents can ask how Edwards can be truly pro-life? He will support a Democratic Party presidential nominee, who, if elected, will advocate abortion rights and will nominate pro-choice U.S. Supreme Court judges to make sure it will always be a legal right in this country.
This may be one of the many issues that Edwards will have to address in the weeks ahead as he attempts to win a second term. He certainly has the power of incumbency, the support of the liberal statewide media, and an impressive war chest. Nonetheless, one of his major liabilities is that he is a member of a political party that is unpopular in Louisiana. If his opponents can closely tie him to that liberal party platform, and the progressive candidates that lead the Democratic Party, he will be in danger of losing the election.
One technique they’ve used successfully here is to dampen economic development by private industry, while growing government. Since the late 60s, the only growth industry has been higher education.
Meanwhile, NOLA’s white collar oil jobs migrated to Houston, where they were welcomed. One Shell Square is now full of lawyers instead of engineers.
One the deadheads retire, they stay here. Government retireds don’t pay state income tax on their pension income.
“The teacher’s union has plenty of power. Legislators are scared spitless of them. They put Bel Edwards in office.”
You must not live in Louisiana.
Louisiana teacher earn the smallest salaries in the nation and the first measly $1,000 pay raise in eight years and teacher unions have all the power?
Jindal and the legislature passed laws that sunk their teeth into the teachers necks. The legislature raided the teacher’s retirement fund, so it is now grossly underfunded. They have no fear of teachers unions.
Unions in general have no power in Louisiana, a right to work state.
Edwards won because the voter turn out was about thirty percent.
He will not win a second term.
I am amazed that people confuse teacher unions with the Leftist teacher bureaucracy, which reigns supreme in all fifty states.
Lived here all my life, and have been active in politics for 40 years. My family goes back seven (7) generations here.
The teacher’s union and the leftist teacher bureaucracy are one and the same.
The reason the TRSL (Teacher Retirement System of Louisiana) is underfunded is the same reason all public employee systems are underfunded. Insufficient employee contributions, overly optimistic annual return projections, and basing retirement pay on the highest three years of salary.
“The reason the TRSL (Teacher Retirement System of Louisiana) is underfunded is the same reason all public employee systems are underfunded. Insufficient employee contributions...”
Some of that may be true, but the hit on the fund came by the politicians raiding the fund. Look it up.
You also must not be aware of the communist Frankfurt School and how it took over education in the United States.
And when you finish looking that up, google and read the Humanist Manifesto (in conjunction with the Frankfurt School) whose main goal was/is to rid Christianity from the public schools.
These people have much bigger fish to fry than teachers unions.
When Obama left in 2016, Arkansas had
Repub governor
2 Repub US Senators
4 Repub US House Reps
Repub controlled state House and Senate and most state offices
Missouri is going through a similar transition based on recent elections.
I, too, am a life long resident of Louisiana and would not live anywhere else.
Jindal was despised by many, one my cousin who is a state retiree hated him because of something he did with their health care, so he voted for the democrat.
Vitter was too tarnished, although I did vote for him.
When I see an ad for Rispone, right after it there is an ad for Abraham. Don’t know anything about either one of them. Shame on me I’m more into national politics instead of knowing much about Local politics. But I do not listen to local news channels which makes me not know much of what is going on in the state. Gotta pay more attention.
Jindal never “raided” the TRSL. He did propose to increase employee contributions and increase the retirement age to bring it in line with what non-government employees receive.
The deadhead state employees and teacher unions pitched a fit and got it killed in the legislature.
He also got enacted a 401K type plan for future employees, but the state Supreme Court ruled it unconstitutional.
Once Jindal took a shot at the state employees and teachers and missed, his fate was sealed. He never got a minute’s rest from the newspapers and the bloodsucker class.
Much as I hate to say it, Bel Edwards will be re-elected. I just don’t see Ralph Abraham generating Trump-like intensity to drive enough voters to the polls in October.
I know lots of folks, many in my extended family who are the same way. Vitter was the most conservative politician ever elected in my lifetime. Many, many conservatives bought in to the enemy's assertion that Vitter was "flawed" because he allegedly once cheated on his wife.
Vitter is/was a saint compared to Trump. These same Louisiana conservatives will defend Trump to the death and say that stuff don't matter. It shows how effective was the media/democrat propaganda about Vitter.
Jindal tried to privatize the state’s Office of Group Benefits (OGB). It covers most public employees and retirees in the state, and it is gold-plated.
https://www.nola.com/news/politics/article_a2228db7-e16f-582a-920b-c2b08039b317.html
Gov. Bobby Jindal says Louisiana has no business running employee insurance program
“Jindal never “raided” the TRSL.”
I never said Jindal raided the TRSL. It has been happening long before him. I said that Jindal sunk his teeth into the teachers neck, ended tenure, which he could not have done if the unions were as powerful as you contend.
Edwards doesn’t stand a chance, and, yes, we have had large voter turnouts that predate Trump.
He didn’t completely end tenure, but Act 1 considerably weakened it.
https://www.houmatoday.com/news/20170924/how-louisiana-cut-number-of-tenured-teachers-in-half
How Louisiana cut number of tenured teachers in half
I sincerely hope that you are right, and I'm wrong about the outcome. As of now, though, I'm saying Edwards by 5% or more.
RINOs sabotaged David Vitter when he ran in 2015. He ought to be the Governor now instead of Edwards.
People are more willing to go against their usual party for Governor, it’s that simple.
That includes political people BTW. Right now there are traitor RINOs in KY that are backing the rat for Governor. Conversely many in the (White) rat establishment in MD essentially laid down for Hogan’s reelection and Baker in MA virtually got a complete pass.
The only problem is that these “Republicans” don’t tend to be ideologically far afield from the opposition majority. Baker is a moonbat (ditto Scott in VT), Hogan is a liberal RINO.
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