Burl Cain today left the door open for a run at the governor’s office later this year, after members of the Baton Rouge Press Club pressed the longtime warden of the infamous Angola prison about a grassroots movement urging him to enter the race.
“As of now I’m not a candidate,” Cain said, noting that he cannot legally run for a political office as a classified employee of the state.
“I’m praying about it. I’m contemplating it,” he said.
A group supporting Cain’s candidacy on Facebook has more than 1,500 likes, while yard signs reading “We the People Need Warden Burl Cain for Governor” have cropped up across the state. When asked who, if anyone, had voiced their support directly to Cain, he quipped: “I can tell you who don’t. My wife don’t.”
At least four candidates have announced gubernatorial runs thus far: Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, Democratic state Rep. John Bel Edwards and Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter.
Cain spent the majority of his address at the press club this afternoon speaking about how efforts to improve prisoners’ character can lead to budget savings. And that’s where Cain’s attention will stay in the short term, he said.
“My dad always said plow to the end of the road,” he said. “I’m making decisions like I’m going to be here another 10 years.”
Cain said Angola’s next project will train inmates to be preachers when they return to their communities in an effort to promote morality in urban areas and reduce crime rates. The project complements Cain’s philosophy about running the prison, which is to use religion, no matter the denomination, to aid in inmates’ rehabilitation. —Kelly Connelly
