Democratic caucus leader running for governor

The Democratic leader in the Louisiana House, Rep. John Bel Edwards, says he’s running for governor in 2015. Edwards, a lawyer from Tangipahoa Parish, becomes the first Democrat to say he’ll be a candidate in the race. He announced his plans today on a Baton Rouge-based public radio show hosted by Jim Engster. “I do intend to run in 2015,” Edwards tells Engster. “I just know from my six years now in the Legislature that I believe we’re heading in the wrong direction, and we’re getting there in a hurry, and we’ve got to change course quickly—and quite frankly, my ability to influence things in the Legislature is quite limited.” Chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, Edwards has been a lawmaker since 2008 and has become one of Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal’s most vocal critics, on issues including the budget, taxes and education. Jindal is unable to run for a third consecutive term. Many Republicans have been mentioned as possible candidates, including U.S. Sen. David Vitter, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, Treasurer John Kennedy, Agriculture Commissioner Mike Strain and state Sen. Gerald Long. You can check out a podcast of this morning’s radio show here. The EBR Republican Connection sent out a brief email following Edwards’ announcement today, saying: “He would be a disaster for Louisiana. We must be ready to defeat him and keep a conservative Republican in the Governor’s Mansion.”