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When folks from outside of the state visit the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame, they’re often befuddled that there would even be such an elaborate shrine for elected officials, consultants and other power brokers in a state known for its corrupt politics. Longtime museum director Carolyn R. Phillips says she explains that politics are “different down here.”

Then she moves on to the mannequins of Huey and Earl Long in the museum’s Pea Patch section, at which point visitors typically ask about Huey’s assassination or Earl’s madhouse love for New Orleans stripper Blaze Starr. Phillips says many are also impressed that Winnfield, the sleepy Winn Parish town that the museum calls home, reared three Louisiana governors, including the Longs and Oscar K. Allen, who died of a brain hemorrhage inside the Old Governor’s Mansion at the end of his first term.

More often than not, though, conversations turn to Louisiana’s political hallmark: corruption. The museum honors a bevy of politicos who have dodged the federal justice system, some who are currently under investigation and one who is serving time right now (see the Edwin Washington Edwards exhibit). Phillips does her best to note that Louisiana has made considerable progress. “Years ago, you could buy your way into office, but I tell people that those days are long gone,” she says. “Louisiana is a different state today.”

A handful of state and federal investigations, particularly the indictment of Congressman William Jefferson, continue to paint Louisiana as a political backwater, if not a cesspool of corruption, cronyism and incompetence. But is it really?

MOST POPULAR: Louisiana Political Hall of Fame member Edwin Edwards now sits in a federal prison in Oakdale for racketeering, bribery and money laundering.

It’s been said that when the rest of the nation zigs, Louisiana zags. Democrats took over Congress last fall right after Louisiana elected two Republicans to statewide offices. A major issue for the Democrats nationally was alleged corruption and cronyism in the Bush administration. Roughly six months later, Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat with his own section in the Winnfield hall, faces a 16-count indictment for racketeering, money laundering, bribery and conspiracy to bribe foreign officials. Jefferson is being stiff-armed by Democrats and Republicans alike in Congress—at a time when his district and the rest of South Louisiana need all the help they can get from Washington.

Meanwhile, a handful of other state and federal investigations, along with scandalized mismanagement of post-hurricane resources, keep the image fresh. It’s not a pretty picture when taken in whole. Consider the following:

• U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Kenner Republican known for taking the moral high ground, admitted recently to being on the client list of the D.C. Madam. After he issued a prepared statement touting “forgiveness from God,” a madam in New Orleans came forward to link Vitter to a prostitution ring in that city.

• State Rep. Jim Tucker of Terrytown, chair of the House Republican Caucus, was facing ethics charges and fines for $1.89 million in tax credits he received through a federal hurricane recovery program. The credits may have been improperly awarded because there was no competitive bidding process, according to the Ethics Board, which is expected to issue a warning to Tucker because he never actually used the credits.

• The brother of state Rep. Francis Thompson, a Democrat from Delhi (and a member of the Hall of Fame), was indicted earlier this month for allegedly misusing funds as executive director of Poverty Point Reservoir District in Richland Parish—a pet project of Rep. Thompson. Michael Thompson, the former mayor of Delhi who has pleaded not guilty, faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine or both.

• The FBI launched a series of raids last month in connection with the state’s much-ballyhooed movie tax credits. According to a whistleblower lawsuit filed by the former head of the Louisiana Music Commission, an economic development official no longer with the state allegedly accepted kickbacks in exchange for favorable treatment on some tax credits. In addition, Republican state Rep. Gary Beard of Baton Rouge was taken to task for seeking film tax credits for work his engineering firm performed for a proposed film studio that he controls. The film studio never paid the $798,250 engineering bill, but instead gave Beard’s engineering firm a promissory note and then sought tax credits of approximately $320,000 for the engineering work—or 40 percent of the fee. The state denied the tax credits, citing the fact that no money actually changed hands, among other reasons.

• The state’s Road Home program, which is responsible for disbursing federal housing money, is now short between $2.9 billion and $5 billion of what is needed to complete its mission. Congress has criticized ICF International, the company administering the program, for alleged mismanagement. While certainly not criminal, attorneys did recently file a class-action lawsuit against the company in state court in Baton Rouge.

• Subpoenas from June indicate that Louisiana’s fabled Angola State Penitentiary is under investigation, particularly its popular rodeo, as well as the prison’s potato chip contracts and massive farm, which was the subject of an award-winning documentary. The details are still sketchy, but former Prison Enterprises director Jim Leslie pleaded guilty last year to witness tampering in a case involving a man who accused longtime Angola warden (and political hall-of-famer) Burl Cain of shaking him down for a $1,000 donation to the prison chapel fund, based on reports.

• The state Ethics Board is considering a request by state Sen. Robert Adley, a Benton Democrat, to investigate Republican Rep. Mike Powell of Shreveport regarding a $12,334 contract for a political mailer. Powell suggests he never worked on the mailer, but Shreveport demographer and political consultant Elliott Stonecipher says he has paperwork proving Powell completed the work and manipulated the paper trail to keep his name out of campaign finance reports.

• A series of audits and reviews revealed earlier this year that the Louisiana Citizens Property Insurance Corporation, the state’s insurer of last resort, is unable to produce accurate financial data because of software problems—and hasn’t reconciled its bank statements since 2006. The legislative auditor also concluded that state officials charged with overseeing Citizens may have broken the law by taking hunting and fishing trips on the agency’s dime.

At a time when Louisiana sorely needs an image makeover, the Jefferson scandal, which has gained international media attention, and these developing stories seriously undercut the best efforts of our state’s best citizens. Because the scandalous headlines aren’t going away anytime soon, Louisiana faces an ongoing, uphill fight to change its widely held and iconic association with corruption.

With statewide elections just four months away, ethics and corruption should be front-burner issues. Right now, the leading candidate for governor is also the one who embraces ethics reform the loudest—Republican Congressman Bobby Jindal of Kenner. That’s no surprise, says Albert Samuels, a political science professor at Southern University.

But Jindal won’t be the only candidate for governor presenting a fresh face or promising to give Louisiana an image makeover. Democrat state Sen. Walter Boasso of Arabi, another candidate for governor, led the fight to consolidate local levee boards last year. To varying degrees and in their own ways, each candidate for governor will claim the mantle of reform this year.

CARRYING THE TORCH: Congressman William Jefferson, a New Orleans Democrat and 2000 Hall of Fame inductee, faces a 16-count indictment for racketeering, money laundering, bribery and conspiracy to bribe foreign officials.

It will be no different in other races. For example, in the race for agriculture commissioner, Republican state Rep. Mike Strain of Abita Springs has dubbed his campaign team the “Army of Reform.” Many other like-minded candidates for state and parish offices will be beating the same drum by the time qualifying ends Sept. 6.

Samuels says the ongoing and developing corruption investigations should keep candidates on message. “Especially with term limits in the Legislature, voters will be looking for outside ideas and candidates that aren’t tied to the old politicians that failed us, candidates that aren’t tainted by scandal,” he says. “Running against corruption will be a safe bet for virtually every candidate.”

This is not a new trend. In 1940, reform candidate Sam Jones of Lake Charles captured the Governor’s Mansion during a statewide fit against corruption—and a momentary lapse by Huey Long’s political machine, which had controlled the office for the previous 12 years. Scandalized Gov. Richard Leche, a Long ally, resigned in disgrace in 1939 and went to prison the following year. Then-Lt. Gov. Earl Long succeeded Leche as governor, but was defeated by Jones when he sought a full term as governor in 1940. Jones ushered in good-government legislation and helped form the Public Affairs Research Council, or PAR, only to see Earl Long recapture the governor’s office in 1948. Despite Jones’ progress, a new era of cronyism dawned with Long’s election.

Jim Brandt, who serves today as president of the Baton Rouge-based PAR, a nonprofit that monitors the activities of state government and advises on policy, says Louisiana is at another crossroads this year. As he reviews the list of corruption investigations, he sighs deeply. “This is a pretty dispiriting list. You have problems on the federal level, the state level and even the local level,” he says. “There does seem to be a bunch of investigations coinciding right now, but I guess it is yet to be seen if any are connected or brought to justice. And we have pushed ethics reform in the Legislature this session, but there has been resistance.”

“Resistance” is putting it mildly. For example, Louisiana lawmakers made a mockery of legislation in the recent session that would have required elected members of the Legislature to fill out financial disclosure statements. In theory, such a document would uncover conflicts of interest, reveal who is bedding down with special interests and who is making money off their public persona.

But the bill was amended beyond recognition, strengthened to include local officials and statewide appointees, and it died as a result in the final days as the House and Senate pointed fingers of blame at each other. “Look at this as passing the buck to the other chamber and another avoidance of serious discussion about legislative financial disclosure,” says Barry Erwin, CEO of the policy think-tank Council for a Better Louisiana.

This year’s push for ethics reform in the session came from a public interest group called LAEthics1, a coalition of more than 50 Louisiana businesses and chambers of commerce. The good government pack will also make ethics reform a statewide campaign issue in the fall elections. The group plans to ask all candidates for legislative and statewide offices to sign a pledge of support for the package of ethics bills, then publicly take to task—through newspaper ads, e-mails and other direct messaging to voters back home—anyone who reneges on the pledge when legislation comes up for a vote next year. Supporters contend that kind of tough-minded follow-through could set the latest reform efforts apart from prior, failed efforts. Only time will tell.

To be sure, Louisiana has made progress since the Longs ran the state as their personal fiefdoms, although many would argue that Edwards surpassed the Longs in the course of corrupting Louisiana’s foray into casino gambling—he is serving time in a federal prison in Oakdale for racketeering, bribery and money laundering. At the same time, it always seems to be a case of “two steps forward, one or two steps back” for Louisiana, adds Erwin.

While LAEthics1 made a strong case this session to strengthen access to public records, make governmental ethics training mandatory, create an independent ethics administrator and require full financial disclosure, the results were mixed. “I think the politicians just don’t get it,” Erwin says. “They look at ethics reform as some indictment on them, and they all believe they are good people. They don’t think they are bad, and they feel put upon.”

So, will Louisiana ever be able to shed its image as a bastion of corruption? Opinions vary, but crusaders like Brandt and Erwin contend lawmakers and others merely need to step up, close a few loopholes, increase transparency and generally avoid conflicts of interest. If that happens, they say, word will spread that a new days has dawned in Louisiana—and that can be used in marketing and economic development initiatives. “You just do it,” Erwin says. “That’s how you do it. That is how you move up on the lists.”

Meanwhile, as Louisiana continues to beg the federal government for more money to support recovery efforts, the Beltway is paying close attention to the state’s circus-like political atmosphere, says Brent Littlefield, a D.C.-based Republican strategist with Political Solutions. Littlefield, who is often interviewed on Fox News, cites a longstanding concern in Washington about corruption in Louisiana—and he notes that the Jefferson indictment has only made matters worse.

Jefferson’s case alone might doom Louisiana’s fiscal prospects in Congress, but the other pending matters won’t help, either. “That is why there has been great concern, although expressed quietly, over monies sent to Louisiana for the recovery,” Littlefield says. “Similar concerns do not seem to exist for other states, like Mississippi, that have received recovery monies for disasters.”

Is it fair, though, to judge all Louisiana harshly for the alleged bad acts of a few? What about the notion of innocent until proven guilty? Back at the political Hall of Fame, Phillips sticks to the official line: “We’re trying to move past that period of our past,” she says, “and people in this state really do want a different reputation for Louisiana.”