Political strategy often matters more than party in Louisiana’s free-for-all open primary system, says Jeremy Alford, and it’s making for some unlikely alliances in the race for governor that’s heating up across the state.
“This helps explain why U.S. Sen. David Vitter, a Republican to the right of the ideological spectrum, and state Rep. John Bel Edwards, the lone Democrat at the top of the field for governor, need each other more than any other pair of candidates,” Alford writes in his latest column. “But they’re not alone. This coupling of contenders appears to be a minor trend in the governor’s race, with Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle and Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne seemingly becoming an unexpected band of brothers—and one that both surely wants disbanded.”
Alford says we’re only talking about loose alliances here, forged not by admiration but rather by necessity.
“Together, in both instances, they offer each other not only protection, but also paths to victory,” he writes. “Vitter and Edwards are certainly the odd couple out of this set. Vitter’s best shot at becoming the next governor is with Edwards by his side in the runoff, if you believe the polls and the senator’s boosters. That’s because, on paper at least, a Democrat running statewide against a Republican has major hurdles to overcome in conservative Louisiana.”
But Vitter isn’t exactly the Louisiana Republican archetype, says Alford, and the Edwards team also believes its road to the Governor’s Mansion runs right through Vitter.
“That’s all to say neither truly wants a piece of Dardenne, who should have the force of Baton Rouge behind him, or Angelle, who is galvanizing his home region of Acadiana,” writes Alford. “Both stand strong in polled runoff scenarios against Vitter and Edwards.”
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.
