| There are 5 days before the primary in LA-02 and LA-04, which were delayed thanks to Hurricane Gustav. There are 6 candidates vying to knock off "Dollar Bill" Jefferson ... in alphabetical order, y'all ... James Carter, Troy "C" Carter, Byron Lee, Helena Moreno, Cedric Richmond, and Kenya Smith.
I'm not as familiar with this race, as I am with others, mainly due to the lack of coverage, and the lack of response by the campaigns to my emails for more information. Here's what I gather so far ...
As much as I want to see Jefferson go down in the primary, I don't see it happening. I think one of the run-off spots goes to him because I think he will be successful in getting his core supporters - older voters - out to vote.
Byron Lee, Kenyatta Smith and Troy "C" Carter are not in this thing. They'll get their single digit support, but they're not moving on to the Battle Royale on Election Day.
That leaves James Carter, Helena Moreno, and Cedric Richmond vying for that final spot in the run-off. Many folks are assuming that Helena Moreno wins by default because she's white.
She calls herself a Democrat. If she is, then why is she taking money from Boysie Bollinger, President Bush's Louisiana fundraising chair? And why is she recruiting campaign staffers from Sinator Vitter's office? Are those the actions of a Democrat? I think not.
James Carter ... I like what I hear about him, and I know and respect the field people working for him. I don't like some of the people backing him, mainly because I had the opportunity to work with them on elections pre-K, and I know which campaigns they backed post-K. Their track record ain't one to brag about, even though they see it as a badge of honor to lose so many times. For the record, I'm not talking about Deborah Langhoff ... I adore her, and respect her grassroots acumen.
Cedric Richmond has secured the endorsements of both the Gambit Weekly and the Times-Picayune, which is impressive. I met him the other night, and I entered into a conversation with him and one of his supporters about education and the prison reforms underway in Louisiana. His easy grasp of the issues speaks to his experience in the Legislature, and if he were to represent LA-02 in Congress, we would have an excellent advocate fighting for us.
Like I said, there are 5 DAYS left. Go VOTE. Go VOLUNTEER. You can find out where by clicking on the links for the candidates under LA-02 in the middle column near the bottom. |
