Dollar Bill should be renamed Teflon Bill. He always finds a way to survive to fight another day. He'll face Helena Moreno in the run-off on November 4th.
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.
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.
No, the debts listed for both candidates are NOT mis-prints. The difference between the two, however is stark: Harlan owes that money to himself, as he loaned his campaign that money. Scalise, on the other hand owes that money to other people ... staff, vendors, and even the caterer for his victory party, to whom he owes some $9,000. Must have been one hell of a party.
Mr. Troy Carter is not a serious candidate. The debt is partly from his failed run back in 2006, where he placed fourth in the jungle primary behind the Republican. I've corrected the amount raised this quarter from his FEC report. If you click on his name, it'll bring you to his July Quarterly FEC report, where he reports NO money raised this quarter. But if you take a look at his April Quarterly report, you'll see that he only reported some $2,188 raised in the election cycle to date column, and nothing again in the this cycle to date column. Mr. Carter, please find someone to teach your staff how to fill out the reports properly!
Mr. Lee has raised an impressive amount. As one of twothe only viable West Banker's in the race, he has a good shot of taking second place in primary, and making it to the runoff, so long as he can turn out a majority of the West Bank for him.
The debts that Mr. Jefferson owes are personal debts of his to MBNA America, American Express, Dryades Savings Bank, and Liberty Bank, as well as some to himself. Hasn't the man ever heard of fiscal responsibility?
Well, with Ms. Moreno (potentially Mrs. Bernazzani?) making a run for LA-02 but putting signs all over Uptown, including in the LA-01 portion of New Orleans, I wonder if she's really serious about making this run. Is this perhaps a prelude to running for Mayor of our fair city in 2010, especially now that Mr. Bernazzani is prohibited from doing so by the City Charter. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot ... the FEC doesn't know what party Ms. Moreno is a member of. If you enter Moreno into the field on that page just linked to, it'll bring you to all the Moreno's that have filed with them. The first one is our very own Helena Moreno ... the UNK after LA means unknown!
The debt is money that Mr. Richmond gave his campaign. For a first-time candidate for the U.S. House, the first quarter fundraising for Mr. Richmond is impressive. Almost $200,000 in the bank. Right now, he has to be one of the favorites to oust Congressman Jefferson.
There are two candidates that have yet to file an FEC report, as they are not required to do so at this time, as they were not raising money prior to the June 30th deadline - former Nagin aide Kenya Smith, and City Councilman James Carter. As reader SM points out, James Carter is a West Banker himself. That's the reason for the changes in the blurb about Byron Lee.
LA-03
There's no need to keep tabs on Congressman Melancon's fund-raising, as he has no race. He does have a cool $1,042,583.14 sitting in the bank. There is speculation that he will parlay that money to make a run against Sinator Vitter, although my colleague Oyster points out a very, very disappointing video of the erstwhile Congressman taken over the weekend.
As of 11 PM CST on July 14th, not one Republican candidate for the House in Louisiana has filed their July quarterly. Five of the 18 Democrats running have filed their reports. Without further adieu, here are those five fundraising reports:
LA-01
Jim Harlan has filed his report. Vinnie Mendoza, a perpetual candidate, has not.
No, the debts is not a mis-print. Mr. Harlan donated his campaign $525,000. For the first time in recent memory, money will not be a reason for the Democratic candidate in LA-01 to lose. It will be because the campaign didn't do a good job. I doubt that will be the case, as the campaign manager for Mr. Harlan is the same campaign manager that helped Travis Childers
LA-02
There are 8 Democrats running in the primary, including incumbent Congressman Bill Jefferson. Only 2 of the 8 have filed their FEC reports so far. They are:
Mr. Troy Carter is not a serious candidate. The debt is partly from his failed run back in 2006, where he placed fourth in the jungle primary behind the Republican. I've corrected the amount raised this quarter from his FEC report. If you click on his name, it'll bring you to his July Quarterly FEC report, where he reports NO money raised this quarter. But if you take a look at his April Quarterly report, you'll see that he only reported some $2,188 raised in the election cycle to date column, and nothing again in the this cycle to date column. Mr. Carter, please find someone to teach your staff how to fill out the reports properly!
The debt is money that Mr. Richmond gave his campaign. For a first-time candidate for the U.S. House, the first quarter fundraising for Mr. Richmond is impressive. Almost $200,000 in the bank. Right now, he has to be one of the favorites to oust Congressman Jefferson.
Since Charlie won re-election by acclamation, as no Republican bothered to file to run against him, he is a prime candidate for the netroots' Use It or Lose It Campaign. He can easily afford to give 30% of his cash on hand to the DCCC so they can pump even more money into LA-01, LA-04, LA-06 and LA-07 to help us elect the Democratic candidates in those districts.
LA-04
There are 4 Democrats running for the nomination in this district - Willie Banks, Paul Carmouche, Artis "Doc" Cash and John Milkovich. Thus far, only Mr. Banks has filed his July Quarterly FEC report.
The debt is money that Mr. Banks loaned his campaign. He's having a hard time raising cash, presumably because he's running against a VERY well-known Democrat in that district, the Caddo Parish District Attorney, Paul Carmouche, who has served in that capacity for I believe 30 years.
