Jeremy Alford / LaPolitics.com
Political observers, such as columnists and radio show hosts, already knew the Democratic and Republican governors associations were going to have roles to play in Louisiana’s 2019 race for governor.
And these prognosticators also knew there would be super PACs and so-called dark money and trackers and so on and so forth, all contributing to the tapestry of this election cycle.
But had they been asked a few months ago who would become the health care heavy in the state’s top race, many would have likely paused before mumbling something about hospitals or physicians or nursing homes.
That said, if you’ve driven anywhere in the Baton Rouge region over the past week, you’ve noticed that the state’s Medicaid managed care contract dispute has developed into an advertising bonanza with Gov. John Bel Edwards in the crosshairs.
LaPolitics.com subscribers have submitted photos of digital billboards purchased by a group called “Caring Health Solutions.”
The ads, which appear to be part of a large scale, targeted digital buy — based on a click-through page passed along to LaPolitics — urges voters to call Edwards and raise hell about the fallout from the new Medicaid contracts.
Louisiana Healthcare Connections and Aetna both filed protests to the Independent Office of Procurement last week.
This recent paid media campaign shows the issue isn’t going anywhere — reported problems in the procurement process, potential job losses and the untenable task of moving roughly 500,000 Medicaid recipients to another plan by Jan. 1.
This Medicaid mambo could become a major theme in the governor’s race.
The Democratic incumbent, who is relying upon the popularity of the Medicaid expansion in his most recent advertising, now faces a new contender in the battle to win hearts and minds. And this contender is aiming to undermine his reputation on the very issue that can inspire his base to turn out.
Businessman Eddie Rispone of Baton Rouge and Congress Ralph Abraham of Alto are among the other top candidates running for governor this year. Both are Republicans.
The next supreme
In the black robe category of this year’s election pageant, the big race will feature a ground war for the First District seat on the Louisiana Supreme Court.
The field doesn’t exactly offer much of a variety, with four white men running as Republicans to serve on the state’s highest court.
Trial attorneys and the business lobby love to play in these high profile races, with the former besting the latter more times than not. But this election in the New Orleans suburbs is an interesting one that should heat up the shores over the next several weeks.
Appellate Judge Will Crain of Madisonville and Richard Ducote of Covington, as well as Appellate Judge Hans Liljeberg and District Judge Scott Schlegel, both of Metairie.
In earned media competition, Ducote got to first base recently when he “filed a lawsuit to declare the state statute calling for secrecy in judicial investigations unconstitutional,” according to The Advocate
Politically, Crain, an appeals judge, is at the heart of a campaign that’s gaining the attention of industry leaders and company heads. When it comes to cash and outside spending, he probably feels fairly comfortable.
From a regional perspective, the voter-rich region of Metairie is going to be a battleground, with both Liljeberg and Schlegel looking to protect and gobble up turf. A few local politicos have described Schlegel as a “wild card” who could turn heads over time.
Political History: Our first senators
For the first four months after it entered statehood, Louisiana didn’t have any representation in the U.S. Senate in Washington. But that changed with the election of Jean Noel Destréhan and Allan B. Magruder.
Both men took office on Sept. 3, 1812. (That, of course, means we are less than three weeks away from the 205th anniversary of Louisiana sending representatives to the nation’s upper chamber.)
Destréhan had actually wanted to be the governor as Louisiana inched toward statehood. He even mounted a campaign against our first governor, C.C. Claiborne, but placed a distant third.
In an odd twist Destréhan served just one month in office before resigning his U.S. Senate seat. That in turn created the state’s first ever vacancy in the U.S. Senate, which lasted just seven days before a replacement was appointment.
There doesn’t seem to be much written about Destréhan’s decision to step down, but it’s a fairly simply matter to speculate that his failed bid for governor was a driving force.
After abandoning one of the highest offices in the United States, Destréhan voluntarily chose to become a member of the Louisiana Senate and served there for five years while preparing to once again run for governor. He made his second and final bid for the premier post in 1820 — and performed worse on the ballot than he did during his first run.
But his name lives on today. The city of Destrehan, as you may have guessed, was named in honor of his family.
Magruder’s paper trail is much thinner than his counterpart’s. Born in Kentucky, he was likewise a member of the state Legislature, in the House, and practiced law in Opelousas, where he eventually died.
Both men were members of the Democratic-Republican party, which was created by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Destréhan was actually close with the two American legends and received high-profile appointments from each.
They Said It
“My philosophy in politics was once I got old enough to look in the arena and see what was going on, I decided I never wanted to run for anything. But what I wanted, though, was to get up close to the top and lay in the weeds.” —Late attorney and lobbyist Ted Jones, on Louisiana Public Broadcasting’s “Louisiana Legends”
“There will never be another like him… His was truly a life well-lived.” —Northwestern State University President Dr. Chris Maggio, on the death of Jones, on KALB-TV