We know there’s a gubernatorial election going on because we can’t turn on our televisions or radios without hearing about incumbent Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and GOP challenger Eddie Rispone.
But not much of what we’re hearing pertains to how the candidates would perform as the state’s chief elected official, writes Jeremy Alford in his new column. In fact, some of the more interesting developments in the race for governor are happening or being decided behind closed doors.
As you may know, there are no remaining televised debates, largely because Rispone was unable to participate. What isn’t being discussed is the political reality that Rispone didn’t need to agree to a final debate in order to carry out a sound campaign strategy.
President Donald Trump is expected to appear in Monroe this week and in Shreveport on Nov. 14 to support Rispone’s bid. It’s likely that other GOP surrogates will get involved as well, giving Rispone plenty of earned media coverage that will be as scripted as the president allows, but certainly safer for the candidate than live television.
The Edwards campaign has been making some quietly shrewd moves, too, mostly in the form of bringing in a few new faces who should otherwise be familiar to politicos in Louisiana. Like strategist Scott Arceneaux, the former executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party. He also worked for the Democratic Governor’s Association in 2015, helping the Edwards campaign in the runoff with the turnout and other matters.
Read Alford’s full column about the remaining days of the campaigns here.
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.
