| LA-04
The GOPers:
| Candidate |
Money Raised |
Money Spent |
Debts |
Cash on Hand |
| John Fleming |
$117,153.00 |
$196,144.52 |
$500,010.00 |
$358,582.03 |
| Chris Gorman |
$197,553.00 |
$314,528.01 |
$400,433.62 |
$352,427.31 |
| Jeff Thompson |
$277,989.44 |
$127,667.00 |
$50,000.00 |
$200,322.44 |
Mr. Thompson is the candidate that has been endorsed by the outgoing Congressman McCrery, which makes him a strong candidate, despite trailing in the money race thus far. All three men's debts are largely due to their personal wealth, with the exception of Gorman, who owes some $4,826.38 to various vendors.
On the Democratic side, we have:
| Candidate |
Money Raised |
Money Spent |
Debts |
Cash on Hand |
| Willie Banks |
$3,267.00 |
$8788.31 |
$10,000.00 |
$11,545.16 |
| Paul Carmouche |
$369,889.42 |
$90,592.16 |
$0.00 |
$387,774.32 |
| John Milkovich |
$27,611.30 |
$29,928.11 |
$3,000.00 |
$7,435.40 |
Artis "Doc" Cash has not filed an FEC report at this time. The two Democrats with debts owe them to themselves ... as they donated personal funds to their campaigns. The frontrunner, Paul Carmouche, raised more money than any of the Republican candidates in the last quarter, AND he understands the virtues of fiscal responsibility ... he has no debts. Mr. Carmouche must be considered to be the front-runner for the Democratic nomination. It remains to be seen if he will win the seat in Congress ... that will be up to us ... to make sure that we register every single eligible voter to put Mr. Carmouche over the top.
LA-05
No need to publicize RepTraitor Alexander's fundraising #'s as he does not have a Democratic opponent. There is a real conservative running against him in the primary, but who knows if he'll get any support from the folks he needs in a race like this - Club for Growth. Stay tuned.
LA-06
The field is set ... it's going to be a fight until November. Here are the fundraising reports:
| Candidate |
Money Raised |
Money Spent |
Debts |
Cash on Hand |
| Bill Cassidy (R) |
$212,550.00 |
$19,039.90 |
$8,224.40 |
$195,113.88 |
| Don Cazayoux |
$280,050.00 |
$35,252.15 |
$76,100.00 |
$271,475.98 |
| Michael Jackson |
$4,300.00 |
$50,749.48 |
$28,515.00 |
$-980.15 |
Well, Jackson's got himself in a hole. Don't be surprised if he raises less than $50,000 for the entire campaign. He can't win this one, no matter who he can convince otherwise. His campaign is being encouraged by former Rep. Richard Baker, in an attempt to take black voters away from Don Cazayoux. It's the only way Cassidy can win this thing ... limit the number of black voters voting for Cazayoux, especially in East Baton Rouge parish, and attempt to run up the score in Ascension and Livingston parishes enough to overcome Don's advantage in Pointe Coupee, West Feliciana, East Feliciana, St Helana, Iberville and West Baton Rouge parishes.
It remains to be seen if this tactic will be effective. Stay tuned.
LA-07
Interesting ... for an incumbent to burning through nearly $400k - $398,546 to be exact - in 6 fundraising quarters is not a good thing. Perhaps Boustany got a tad overconfident about being re-elected by acclamation like Melancon did over in LA-03.
What many national prognosticators don't realize about LA-07 is that it is a DEMOCRATIC district. If you take a look at the last time a Presidential election was held in Louisiana was 4 years ago, with President Bush driving turnout throughout the state. The 3 Democrats running in LA-07 that year - Cravins, Sr., Carriere, and Mount - received 141,645 votes to the 132,107 votes of the two GOPers running in the jungle primary - Boustany and Thibodeaux. Further, in the Senate race, then-Congressman Chris John actually won the 7th over Vitter - 126,016 to 125,597.
There will be no gay marriage bashing on the ballot to help drive turnout for the GOP. Nor will President Bush be driving turnout. Instead, the Democrats have to ensure that having Senator Obama and State Senator Cravins, Jr. on the ballot in the 7th turns out black voters like never before ... but it will take an efficient, kick-ass field operation in the 7th. Whether it will be done remains to be seen. |
