Promising a campaign rooted in conservative principles, Metro Councilman Ryan Heck officially jumpstarted his bid for House District 69 on Monday. With strong ties to influential pockets in the Baton Rouge business community, and a penchant for going off-script, Heck, a Republican, spices up the early field in this developing race. But he won’t be alone.
Having already hired Jay Connaughton and Gordon Reese, the branding pros from Innovative Advertising in Mandeville, Heck is trying to tap into an anti-tax sentiment that emerged following the recent regular session.
“How do we get to a point where our state Legislature thinks the only way to save higher education and health care is to raise a billion dollars in taxes?” Heck asks in a press release. “We got to this point because we lost sight of our conservative values, like lower taxes and less government.”
Elected without opposition to his first term on the Metro Council in 2013, Heck has carved out a policy niche by advocating reforms for the Capital Area Transit System’s board of directors and pushing the popular rideshare app, Uber, in Baton Rouge.
House District 69 covers a diverse swath in the city, stretching from Government Street and Jefferson Highway to Shenandoah. The seat has been left vacant by the resignation of Erich Ponti, who was thought to be seeking re-election but instead resigned after accepting the position of executive director of the Louisiana Asphalt Pavement Association, replacing longtime director Don Weathers.
Ponti appears to be supporting Paula Pellerin Davis for the seat as she hears encouragement from the community to run. She is a former deputy commissioner of insurance for the state. Jim Napper, general counsel for the state Treasury Department, is being encouraged to run as well. Attorney James Bullman, a Democrat, has already announced his intention to seek the seat on the fall ballot.
The primary election is scheduled for Oct. 24, with a runoff, as needed, slated for Nov. 21.
—Jeremy Alford
