Baton Rouge’s echo chamber was filled with theories last week about the momentous spike in early voting, writes Jeremy Alford in his latest column.
Nearly all of the reads and interpretations, including the recent analyses published by Louisiana’s daily newspapers, attributed the 10% early voting turnout to a variety of national conditions, such as the Kavanaugh cold, Blue Wave fever and Trumpitis.
Even when taken collectively, this prescription offers an incomplete explanation for the badly-needed surge in voter engagement. It’s an explanation, Alford writes, that does an injustice to Louisiana politics.
“So what was driving early voter turnout this go around?” Alford asks. “Don’t look exclusively north, toward the Beltway, for answers. Look locally instead—particularly at our high-interest elections for parish presidencies, mayoralties, chiefs of police badges and seats on city councils and school boards.”
Read the full column about the surge in voter turnout.
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.
