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Louisiana Politics: Congressman considers running for governor

U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, R-Mangham, who represents northeast Louisiana, is expected to make a decision in the coming months on whether he will be a candidate for governor in 2019.
Gov. John Bel Edwards is expected to stand for re-election, but several Republican politicians, like Abraham, are keeping their options open.
Known as “Doc” to friends and family, the two-term congressman recently told LaPolitics, “A number of people are asking me about it, but I haven’t made any decisions yet.” More recently, he told The USA Today Network of Louisiana papers that he will make a final call on the issue during the first quarter of 2018.
The 2015 race that pitted Edwards against former U.S. Sen. David Vitter was driven by personalities, and if 2019 follows the same path, Abraham’s own story could become an asset, political watchers believe. A practicing physician and former veterinarian, Abraham is also an airplane pilot and a mountain-climber. He does, however, have somewhat of a regional disadvantage, considering most modern Louisiana governors have run out of south Louisiana.
Abraham is starting to offer voters a glimpse into what such a contrast would look like. He sent a letter to the governor last week asking him to guarantee that the LSU medical school in Shreveport won’t be moved under any new operator agreements. It could become an issue that helps bring Abraham into more statewide discussions.

Landrieu reflects
on her career
Former U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, who has been out office since 2015, was presented inducted into the hall of fame of the Louisiana Center for Women in Government and Business this past weekend.
The ceremony took place at the New Orleans Marriott, where Landrieu was introduced as “the most successful woman” in the history of Louisiana government. She also reflected on her time in office, which overlapped with raising a family.
“I remember so clearly running for governor when (my son) Connor was two, running for the Senate when he was five, and then adopting Mary Shannon into our family the first year I was in the Senate,” Landrieu said. “So I was learning how to be a senator and a mother at the same time, which I would not recommend to anyone.”
As for what has changed the most, Landrieu noted the mood of American politics.
“I try to spend my time not concerned with the pettiness of politics, which has gotten so petty and so nasty and so destructive with our current president,” she said. “I don’t know what (politics has) turned into. I don’t recognize it. It’s not the same thing. It’s not the same at all what it used to be. Because we would fuss and we would fight and we would get in arguments with Democrats and Republicans. But, really, at the end of the day it was, ‘How do we build a better highway system? How do we build a better criminal justice system?’”
The Louisiana Center for Women in Government and Business is housed at Nicholls State University and was established in 1990.

Fields as a
candidate again?
Local politicos in the Baton Rouge area are speculating that former legislator and congressman Cleo Fields could mount a comeback bid.
Fields is said to have had discussions about the possibility, specifically about Senate District 14, which is currently occupied by term-limited Sen. Yvonne Colomb, D-Baton Rouge. It’s also a seat for which sitting Rep. Pat Smith, D-Baton Rouge, has already declared her candidacy, making for what could be one of the hottest legislative races of 2019. That is, if it happens.
Fields last served in the upper chamber from 1988 to 1993 and from 1998 to 2008. He turned 55 about a week ago, has remained active in politics since leaving elected life, from running his own tickets to cutting robocalls for candidates around the state.
He also made an appearance in an FBI surveillance tape, in 1997, accepting cash from former Gov. Edwin Edwards. The act labeled him as an “unindicted co-conspirator” to Edwards, but Fields was never found guilty of any wrongdoing.
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.

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