How did Gov. John Bel Edwards win this year’s top race in Louisiana? Unlike previous cycles, which were soaked in twists and turns and mired by complex themes and players, Edwards pulled it off in a rather rudimentary A-to-B fashion, writes Jeremy Alford in his new opinion piece.
Heading into the runoff, Edwards’ campaign brought some new people into the fold and charged them with expanding the primary electorate using new and advanced methods (for a gubernatorial cycle, at least) that spoke to Louisiana’s parochial (and political) nature.
As was well reported this month, Edwards needed to win big in the Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport metro areas. That’s where you’ll find massive blocs of Democratic voters, but that is always the plan for Democrats seeking statewide office. Without a lion’s share of chronic Democratic voters who reliably vote Democrat, such candidates rarely have a good reason to even be on the ballot.
To claim victory this go around, however, Edwards needed to scoop up voters from every segment of the electorate to increase his numbers statewide. He needed a handful of independent voters, a sizable chunk of rural registrants and a leading share of women. And his campaign managed to produce the numbers in each category.
But the magic that got Edwards across the finish line can be found in the African American communities that serve as part of the backbone in Baton Rouge, New Orleans and Shreveport. Those Democratic voters, more than anything else, helped the Edwards campaign expand its primary electorate. Read Alford’s full opinion piece for more about how and why he thinks the Edwards’ campaign was able to draw out the voters it needed to secure the election.
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
