With more than $9 million in his campaign war chest, Gov. Bobby Jindal can afford to be choosy about where he draws down campaign cash, but why bother? Sure, $9 million is a lot of dough, but as Edwin Edwards used to say, why leave any around for an opponent to use against him?
“I’m running for re-election,” Jindal told reporters last week. “I’m not taking anything for granted.”
Which is why, no doubt, Jindal agreed to a fundraiser hosted last week by Mike Worley of Hammond. Worley is the CEO of Worley Catastrophe Response, the company selected by BP to process claims related to last year’s oil spill.
Worley Catastrophe Response’s contract with BP makes the company an official adversary of the State of Louisiana, legally speaking. Jindal, in his capacity as governor and ostensibly on behalf of aggrieved Louisiana citizens, asked a federal judge two months ago to take over the claims process that Worley oversees — arguing that claims processed by Worley on behalf of BP were not being processed promptly or fairly.
So why is Jindal allowing Worley to raise campaign cash for him now, at a $1,000-per-plate event?
Jindal apologists claim the governor avoids a conflict on this issue because Worley merely works for BP, which is the real adverse party. But according to a search of state contracts, Worley Catastrophe also has a $380,000 consulting agreement with the Division of Administration, which makes it a state contractor. Moreover, the company’s contract was awarded on Jindal’s watch in August 2009 — and it was bankrolled with federal dough.
Jindal may say he’s taking nothing for granted with regard to his re-election prospects, but when it comes to raising campaign money he’s taking all he can handle — even from those adverse to the state.
Quite expectedly, the Louisiana Democratic Party went nuts on this one. “It is a clear conflict for Gov. Jindal to take campaign cash from somebody who works for BP at the same time he’s supposed to be holding BP accountable,” said party chair Buddy Leach. Leach added that Jindal should have canceled the fundraiser.
Two days later, state Rep. Jon Bel Edwards, D-Amite and chair of the House Democratic Caucus, excoriated Jindal from the House floor and called on the governor to return all the money raised for him at the Worley event and apologize to the people of Louisiana — “most especially to those claimants” who have been short-changed by BP and Worley.
“His judgment on this one is wrong,” Edwards said of Jindal. “We’re not talking about the appearance of impropriety here. We’re talking about impropriety.”
Turns out, however, that Worley’s political largesse knows no party bounds. He gave $5,000 to the Democratic State Central Committee last fall — after BP hired his firm. In fact, Worley has donated money to a wide range of Democrats, from state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson of New Orleans to President Barack Obama.
For the time being, at least, Worley is Jindal’s millstone.
“The governor wants the support of all people in Louisiana,” Kyle Plotkin, the governor’s press secretary, told The Associated Press.
