Rispone brings campaign to Morgan City

The battle between Gov. John Bel Edwards and Republican challenger Eddie Rispone for Ralph Abraham’s voters came to Morgan City on Thursday.

Rispone met and posed for pictures with a room full of supporters, then blasted Democrat Edwards as a tax and spend liberal over seafood appetizers at the Atchafalaya Café.

Edwards, running for reelection as an increasingly rare Democratic state officeholder, was the top vote-getter in the Oct. 12 primary statewide with 47% of the vote and in St. Mary with 40%.

But together, Baton Rouge businessman Rispone’s 27% and Republican U.S. Rep. Abraham’s 24% were enough to keep Edwards from claiming a majority. It also gives Republicans hope Rispone can unseat the Deep South’s only Democratic governor in the Nov. 16 runoff.

On Thursday, Rispone called Edwards “a liberal tax and spend politician and trial lawyer.’

“It’s time for someone who will do for Louisiana what President Trump has done for the United States,” Rispone said.

The challenger labeled Edwards a trial lawyer who supports lawsuits that hurt the oil and gas industry.

He also pointed to Louisiana’s poor ranking about the nation’s public schools.

About 130,000 children attend schools that receive D or F grades under the state’s accountability system, Rispone said.

“We are not going to solve poverty if we don’t educate these children,” he said.

He said the keys are supporting teachers, working with vocational education and expanding school choice.

Edwards has countered with charges that Rispone is espousing the policies of former Gov. Bobby Jindal, who left office with potential budget shortfalls of $1 billion or looming over the governor and the Legislature.

The Edwards campaign claims credit for putting the state budget back on solid ground, a process that involved increases in sales taxes.

Rispone said he would have looked first at the state’s overhead rather than raising more revenue.

“We need a CEO,” he told reporters after his remarks at the Atchafalaya Café. “We have a $30 billion budget, and we have a trial lawyer as governor.”

Louisiana’s economy has been stung by the same drop in oil prices that has eliminated 5,000 St. Mary jobs.

“We’re going to turn this city around,” Rispone said. “We’re going to bring the work back here. We’re going to make it happen.”

He promised again to go after legacy lawsuits.

“We’re going to eliminate all these lawsuits, that’s what we’re going to do,” Rispone said. “We’re going to put the best team together and go after it from a legal standpoint and a political standpoint.”

Rispone said Louisiana has talented people who can manufacture and ship goods all over the world.

But Rispone said Edwards is killing jobs by supporting anti-oil-and-gas lawsuits.

Both Edwards and Rispone had to fend off allegations of scandal in recent days.

Edwards has accused Rispone of having a “puppet master" in businessman Lane Grigsby.

The Associated Press reported that a Republican-financed group called Truth in Politics has attacked Edwards’ handling of sexual harassment allegations against former aide Johnny Anderson. Anderson resigned two years ago.