Presidential politics picking up in Louisiana

The quest for Louisiana’s eight electoral college votes is in full swing with the state’s presidential primary just a few months away and the race for governor decided.
Moreover, even though the state traditionally gets overlooked by major candidates in presidential elections, the next few months could represent a minor shift in interest by the campaigns for a variety of reasons.
The latest news comes from the Republican side of the big race, with U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio and former Gov. Jeb Bush, both of Florida, arriving in the Bayou State this week to raise money and shore up their Louisiana operations.
Rubio’s events are scheduled for Wednesday, Dec. 2. starting with a breakfast reception in Lafayette and a luncheon later in New Orleans.
Hosts include notable names like West Feliciana Parish President Kevin Couhig; Philip Ellender, president of Koch Industries’ government affairs division; attorney Hank Perret; and real estate developer Mike Wampold.
Next Monday, Dec. 7, Bush’s campaign will likewise be in New Orleans for a fundraiser hosted by former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush.
Last week, Jeb Bush also announced that Jason Hebert and Scott Hobbs of the Baton Rouge-based Political Firm will serve as his state political advisers. His steering committee includes St. Tammany Parish President Pat Brister; state Sen. Conrad Appel, R-Metairie; state Rep. Nancy Landry, R-Lafayette; and former state Elections Commissioner Suzie Terrell.
Given the large size of the GOP field, Louisiana can expect more attention from the candidates than in the past, said Roger Villere, chairman of the state Republican Party.
“I’ve had a couple of other candidates call and ask recently for names of people to do statewide and regional work,” said Villere. “I think they are looking at Louisiana as part of that SEC Tuesday because whoever comes out of that with a strong position could be moving on.”
Louisiana’s presidential primary is slated for March 5, but the preceding Tuesday, on March 1, several states from the Southeastern Conference, which is a collegiate athletic group, will also host primaries, including but not limited to Alabama, Arkansas and Georgia.
“We may have a leader by then but a lot of campaigns are coupling us all together and viewing us as one group,” said Villere.
That goes for fundraising as well, and Louisiana is not being overlooked in that regard. Jeb Bush’s campaign, for example, has already named three fundraising chairs who are familiar names in Louisiana campaign finance reports, including Joe Canizaro, Boysie Bollinger and James Davison.
On the Democratic side of the developing race, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Louisiana and raised money back in September while U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont did the same in July.
Andrew Tuozzolo, a Democratic operative from New Orleans and the managing partner of WIN Partners, expects both will be back in the Bayou State very soon.
Whichever candidate does better in the Deep South, particularly with African-American voters in places like Louisiana, could signal a candidate that’s better positioned to wrap up the party nomination more quickly, Tuozzolo said.
“They had rallies earlier than usual here because Louisiana is beginning to represent an important state in this race,” he added. “If a candidate can win here, then maybe that success can be patterned in other states.”
A name that will not be on Louisiana’s presidential primary ballot is that of Gov. Bobby Jindal, who announced in mid-November that he was abandoning his national campaign.
Jindal has not yet said who he would support for president.
Qualifying for Louisiana’s presidential primary begins on Dec. 2 and ends on Dec. 4.
The final day to registrar to vote in the March 5 primary is on Feb. 3.
The one-week early voting period begins on Feb. 20.

Preparations for D.C. Mardi Gras underway
Local officials, donors, candidates, businessmen and just about everyone else with a political agenda will be heading north to Washington, D.C., next month for the annual Mardi Gras celebration hosted by Louisiana’s congressional delegation.
The Mystick Krewe of Louisianians will host its event Jan. 21 through Jan. 23. Congressman Cedric Richmond, D-New Orleans, will serve as the official chairman.
As per tradition, Richmond is in charge of the 2016 theme and has selected “Rolling On The River.” Richmond has also chosen James McClendon Williams of New Orleans, the head of litigation at the law firm of Chehardy Sherman, as king and Anna Haspel Aronson of Baton Rouge, a marketing major at Tulane, as the queen.
In excess of 3,000 people normally attend the annual event, of which 90 percent travel from Louisiana. All of the attendees receive access to the state’s most powerful politicians, so it isn’t surprising that many local organizations and companies actually dedicate portions of their marketing budgets to attending the bash.
During this event, just once a year, the bar in the Washington Hilton becomes Louisiana’s “65th Parish” — complete with temporary signage.
The first Washington Mardi Gras event was held in 1944 and today it’s anchored by a Friday night dinner-dance and a Saturday evening ball.

They Said It
“They were Irish Catholic; they didn’t know what else to do on a Saturday night.”
— Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, explaining his mother’s large family in a campaign speech, in The New York Times
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.