Louisiana Politics: Governor candidates build up campaign funds
With this fall’s gubernatorial race quickly approaching, the major candidates are hitting the fundraising circuit and building up their war chests in anticipation of a costly campaign.
Looking at the 2015 race for governor as an indicator, both Gov. John Bel Edwards and former U.S. Sen. David Vitter spent roughly $11 million each through the primary and runoff.
The costs of running a statewide campaign in 2019 are only expected to increase, meaning that candidates will likely need north of $10 million to wage a competitive fight.
Edwards’ re-election campaign currently leads the money race. Last week, the governor’s campaign staff told reporters that the governor currently has $8.4 million on hand. Edwards has been steadily raising money since he moved into the Governor’s Mansion, taking in nearly $3.8 million in 2018 alone.
Republican challenger Eddie Rispone, a Baton Rouge businessman, has about $5.5 million in the bank. While Rispone has held a few fundraisers, the vast majority of the campaign cash comes from his personal funds. When he entered the race, Rispone pledged to spend at least $5 million of his own money on the gubernatorial campaign.
The third candidate in the race, Congressman Ralph Abraham, has yet to release his fundraising figures, but he has been out raising money since launching his campaign in December, most notably holding several large fundraisers that have drawn criticism from the Edwards camp.
Political History: Where Dat?
In the spring of 2001, New Orleans Saints owner Tom Benson and his closest advisors were sitting in a hotel suite near the Mississippi Capitol in Jackson, hearing a pitch from then-Gov. Ronnie Musgrove on why they should move the team to the Magnolia State.
The cash-strapped Saints had been pushing for a new stadium in Louisiana, hoping that a fresh facility would help them bring in more revenue. “It’s that revenue that ultimately goes into your football operations and ensures that you have a good football team,” Arnie Fielkow, then the Saints’ vice president, told LaPolitics in an interview.
But Bayou State officials had thrown cold water on the idea of a new stadium, so after considering moves to Los Angeles and San Antonio, Saints officials were courting Mississippi, which could provide them with a new stadium while allowing the team to keep their existing market and fan base.
The type of arrangement the Saints were looking for wasn’t uncommon in pro football. Both of New York City’s teams, the Jets and Giants, for example, played across the Hudson River in New Jersey.
Gov. Musgrove took the lead in the negotiations. The Mississippi governor was a tireless industrial recruiter and he had just landed Nissan’s North American production plant. A quintessential country lawyer, he used his warm personal style, down-home demeanor and Southern hospitality to win over high powered corporate titans. Fielkow and the Saints negotiators were impressed. “I must say, Governor Musgrove is somebody I still have great admiration for,” Fielkow said.
After conducting months of feasibility studies and late-night negotiations, Mississippi officials were putting forth a formal proposal. A new stadium and a surrounding development would be built just off of Interstate 10 in Hancock County, a few miles from the state line. The facility would be located fully within the boundaries of NASA’s Stennis Space Center, but U.S. Sen. Trent Lott was expected to easily cut through the federal red tape and get the project approved. (He sat on the subcommittee with direct oversight of NASA.)
“It was going to be a really interesting project,” Fielkow said. “It was going to have a space theme to it, because it was going to be located at Stennis. It was going to have a big development around it too, not just a football stadium.”
Armed with an artist’s rendering of the proposed stadium and favorable economic reports, the governor made Mississippi’s final pitch to the Saints. The wily politician also had a trick up his sleeve.
As his wrapped up his remarks, Musgrove pulled a slim new Motorola cellphone from the pocket of his jacket and handed it to Benson and his executives. “This is a small token of our appreciation for just being able to work with you,” he said.
As the Saints officials turned the phone on, the governor continued. “We’ve already programmed it. When you decide to come to Mississippi, you just hit one, and that’s my number. You can reach me any time of the day or night.”
“Mississippi was absolutely ready to enter into an agreement,” Fielkow said.
They said it
“In 2019, it is my intention not to have a single special session of the Legislature. This should be doable.”
—Gov. John Bel Edwards, on the Legislature in 2019, at the Baton Rouge Press Club
“That’s a fact. You can write that down and take it home to Mama.”
—U.S. Sen. John Kennedy, on the necessity for a border wall, on Fox Business
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Jeremy Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.