Reporters, talking heads, columnists, editors and producers are slowly taking more of an interest in Louisiana’s race for governor, based on a recent analysis from LaPolitics.com of state and national news published between May 30 and Aug. 29, 2019.
That makes sense, writes Jeremy Alford in his latest column. Labor Day has long been the turning point in our four-year election cycles. As the spotlight grows on football and fall festivals, so does general interest in major elections. Plus, televised debates for the governor’s race are right around the corner.Â
Still, the uptick in campaign coverage pales in comparison to the attention the incumbent, challengers and issues were receiving earlier this year. The total number of media mentions for our top election and its players was 264 on May 31, as the Legislature’s session was drawing to a close, and then peaked at 320 mentions over the course of July 12, when Hurricane Barry was grabbing headlines.
Those individual daily figures have yet to be matched. Last week, for instance, mentions of the race and its connected parts averaged 88 per day. The lack of media enthusiasm should serve as a warning to the professionally-run campaigns that earned coverage may not be easy to come by this cycle. So far, however, we’ve seen some interesting case studies. Read the full column about the campaigns here.Â
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, atLaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
