House Speaker Jim Tucker, R-Algiers, says he is leaning toward running for secretary of state this fall. Tucker, who cannot seek another term in the House, said he will come to a decision in the next few weeks. "I am more likely to run than not run," he said.
Secretary of State Tom Schedler, a St. Tammany Parish Republican, is the unelected incumbent and has said he will be a candidate for the job. Schedler moved up from first assistant when Jay Dardenne was elected lieutenant governor.
Rep. Walker Hines, R-New Orleans, and Democrat Caroline Fayard of New Orleans, an unsuccessful candidate for lieutenant governor last year, have also indicated they will seek the office.
Democrat-turned-Republican Scott Angelle of Breaux Bridge, secretary of the Department of Natural Resources and Gov. Bobby Jindal's chief legislative liaison, reportedly is also interested in making the race. Angelle could not be reached.
Tucker's potential candidacy is no surprise, and we discussed his positives and negatives in this piece on the 'fish. However, one addendum to that analysis must be his eventual scuttling of the SUNO-UNO merger bill. This controversial bill will no-doubt be highlighted by any of Tucker's Democratic (or even Republican) opponents to dull any of his potential advantages in the New Orleans area and to rally support for voters to cast votes against Tucker as a protest. By dropping the bill, Tucker avoided the most bruising parts of the SUNO-UNO battle, and is probably responsible for burying the issue. This works to his advantage in the fall.
The real wildcard is DNR Secretary Scott Angelle. Tucker has become no real friend of the Jindal administration during the past few legislative sessions. Especially this year, Tucker often was a thorn in Jindal's side, often out-flanking him on the right on financial issues, and thwarting oarts of Jindal's privatization agenda. With these apostasies by Tucker, Jindal is likely trying to encourage his bosom-buddy, Angelle, to enter the SoS race. Why? As Maginnis says, it's all about 2015. If Jindal can install Angelle into a Statewide position, he'll be better situated to take over as Governor when Jindal slithers away onto bigger and better things. It's still unclear whether Angelle will get into this, or the Lieutenant Governor's race. In the end, both races are attractive for Angelle, although the LG is a step closer to the Governor's mansion. Angelle still has many friends among powerful Democrats, and many believe that he's still really a Democrat at heart. He would likely get the endorsement (or endorsement by neutrality) from several prominent Democrats even if Fayard were in the race.
Even without Jindal's support, Tucker is likely to be a very strong candidate among the business elites and fundraisers. Jindal would likely back Angelle in any case, but it might help. Jindal's record of endorsements is abysmal. It's almost to Angelle's benefit if Jindal stays out.
Monday is the first filing deadline for Statewide candidates. We'll know more very soon.
Well, the Foreign Relations Committee voted to endorse the nomination of Hillary Clinton to be next Secretary of State. The lone no vote? Well, that would belong to our embarassment of a Senator, David Vitter.
The good Sinator ought not to be giving folks advice on ethics ... as he spent some time impugning his own inside the brothels of New Orleans and Washington, D.C. Yet, he believes it is his duty to admonish those who have gone above and beyond what the current ethics rules require in terms of financial disclosure, in regards to the Clintons and Mr. Clinton's foundation.
(Edited for quick hit to Louisiana portion ... full piece unedited after the jump! This is why registering voters is SO IMPORTANT. It's not just to ensure that folks register for the first time, but also to ensure that the Registrar of Voters has the RIGHT ADDRESS on file. - promoted by ryan)
In 2000, Florida's disastrous effort to purge former felons from voter rolls resulted in the disenfranchisement of hundreds if not thousands of legitimate voters and clearly influenced the outcome of the presidential contest in that state. History may repeat itself this November with states taking potentially reckless and unlawful measures to clean voter rolls before Election Day.
Project Vote has recently expressed concern to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne over the state's method of removing voters from rolls, as reported in the Times on Tuesday. Project Vote has learned that Louisiana compares voter lists with other jurisdictions, purging voters solely upon apparent database matches of first name, last name and birth date. With millions of people living in a multi-state region, it is not uncommon to find more than one John Smith born on the same day. Additionally, the possibility of human and typographical error that occur in all large databases creates a greater risk of unjustified disenfranchisement.
"A spokesman for Louisiana's secretary of state said that all voters found to have duplicate registrations were sent at least one warning letter and sometimes two, but that the last such actions were done some 13 months ago," the Times reported.
Here's the choice quote from Dardenne's office:
"We're specifically not doing it right in front of an election," said Dardenne's spokesman.
[Comments from Ryan]Thirteen months ago? Hmmm ... that WAS right before the gubernatorial and legislative elections last fall, Mr. Spokesman. Matter of fact, last June ... a mere 4 months prior to those elections. That sounds like right in front of an election, don't ya think?
Secretary of State Jay Dardenne, (R-Baton Rouge) in testimony to the House Government Affairs Committee on 2 May 2007 used a racist code word in support of his position to deny Louisianans displaced by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita the right to vote in Louisiana elections.
He was invited to give his opinion on Jalila Jefferson-Bullock's HB 619, which would extend the right of displaced persons to vote in Louisiana elections for the upcoming gubernatorial election this fall.
The code word used by Secretary Dardenne? Chaos.
UPDATE: Don't believe this? Then click here
and go to 2 May 2007, and click on House Gov Affairs. It'll launch Real Player, and in the interest of saving you 3 hours, skip to 2:40, and watch from there.
