Louisiana Politics: Campaigns gear up for push before early voting

Louisiana’s early voting period for this fall’s elections, for a slate of races ranging from governor and the Legislature to sheriffs and constitutional amendments, is scheduled to kick off with a certain amount of political fanfare this weekend.
Voters first crack at participating in the process comes Saturday morning. Voting commences at 8:30 a.m. and closes at 6 p.m., running until Oct. 5, excluding Sunday, Sept. 29.
During the early voting period’s brief run through Louisiana’s elections, voters have become more comfortable with the alternative, as evidence by an increase in this particular balloting.
Political consultant Mary-Patricia Wray, founder of Top Drawer Strategies, said this has moved the schedule for routine political activities up by a month or more in some instances.
That in turn may mean that voters are increasingly making their decisions known earlier in the process as well.
“As expected, undecided voters are making up their minds quickly ahead of early voting,” Wray said. “But with negative messages from the top of the ballot on screens and radios everywhere, turnout could be depressed. As candidates make their final pitches to voters, I expect personal, biographical persuasion to re-energize likely voters.”
Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin is encouraging voters to utilize the state’s smartphone app, GeauxVote Mobile, to find out where to early vote. Voters can also access the same information via the department’s Voter Portal by visiting https://voterportal.sos.la.gov.
For further election information, visit www.GeauxVote.com or call 225.922.0900.

Political History: From
French to Spanish rule
Next week marks the 255th anniversary of France’s decision to officially unload the Louisiana territory to Spain.
It was a real backroom kind of a deal, with French officials keeping the colonists in the dark for two years. When France sent representatives to Louisiana to begin the process in 1762, they found a government that was described as “understaffed and corrupt.” The treasury, in fact, was nearly empty at the time.
In "Louisiana: The Land and Its People," author Manie Culbertson explains that Spain wasn’t in a big hurry to claim its prize:
The Louisiana colony went through a period when it was treated as though it belonged to no one. Neither country — France nor Spain — felt responsible for the colony. The Spanish had a policy of mañana [Spanish for “tomorrow”], that they would take the colony over when they got around to it.
Spain, of course, did eventually take ownership and it was up to French Governor Jean Jacques d’Abbadie to break the news to the locals. Ididn’t go over too well, according to Culbertson:
On September 30, 1764, d’Abbadie received official word from France that the colony belonged to Spain. He was ordered to make the transfer. This was nearly two years after the secret treaty ceded the colony to Spain. It was not until d’Abbadie posted an announcement on the door of the church, in the custom of the times, that the Louisiana people learned of the transfer.
The people reacted in horror to the news. They were French! They did not want to lose their mother country that they loved so dearly. The idea of changing their flag, laws, language, and customs made them furious. They were angry that the king had given them to Spain. Louisianians were also fearful. For a long time stories had circulated about treatment by the Spanish in Mexico, Florida, and the West Indies.
The colony was in a sad state. France was no longer concerned. Even though Spain owned the colony, there was no sign of the Spanish. Louisiana colonists had to manage for themselves.
The colonial haters didn’t have to spend too much time under that flag, though. By 1803, Louisiana was back in French hands — for a few weeks, at least, before it was transferred to the United States.
They said it
“The biggest surprise was how much I ended up liking (Ronald) Reagan. I voted for him twice in my twenties, but gravitated away from my conservative roots. In the ensuing years, I’d learned to have a healthy disdain for him and his policies. The research on the book didn’t change my mind about his politics so much, but I discovered that he was an enormously compelling and likeable person.” —Author Bob Mann of LSU, on his “Becoming Ronald Reagan: The Rise of A Conservative Icon,” in The Shreveport Times
“They both are clean, neither one of them is some sort of a crook.” —Eyewitness News Political Analyst Clancy DuBos, on the Jefferson Parish president’s race featuring Cynthia Lee Sheng and John Young, on WWL-TV
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter@LaPoliticsNow.