From television buys and shielded social media accounts to anonymous tips, the race for Louisiana state treasurer has finally started—with less than four weeks to go until the Oct. 14 primary, says Jeremy Alford in his latest column.
“The newest kid on the block is the Redfish Action Fund, which has nothing to do with fishing,” Alford writes. “It’s actually a political action committee that’s being run by a group of conservative operatives.”
The PAC has a broad mission and set of objectives in terms of politics, but the treasurer’s race will be where most folks are first introduced to its outreach and tactics, he says.
So far the Redfish PAC has only negatively targeted former commissioner of administration Angele Davis of Baton Rouge in social media posts, Alford notes. Those familiar with the PAC say research on other candidates in the race will be rolled out soon. Sizable digital buys also will follow, he adds.
Anonymous tipsters likewise are starting to appear in reporters’ inboxes, offering leads on candidates’ professional backgrounds and fundraising, Alford writes.
“It’s only a matter of time before some of that opposition research (also known as political mud) ends up on a blog or, worse, as fodder on Facebook and Twitter,” he says.
Candidates, too, are rolling out ads. State Sen. Neil Riser of Columbia, who was the first to appear on TV around the time Hurricane Harvey was causing trouble, went live last week with a new, slick-looking broadcast ad that includes a few beautiful shots of the Capitol.
Davis has two different TV ads—one focusing on her support for President Donald Trump and another that focuses on her “small town” background and again mentions Trump, Alford writes.
“It’s a media strategy that’s worth taking note of, especially after we saw several candidates last cycle riding the coattails of the commander-in-chief and some of them claiming victory because of it,” Alford writes. “No other candidate in the field is playing up Trump as much as Davis.”
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.
