Edwards says Republicans benefited from change he pushed

Former four-term Democratic Gov. Edwin Edwards says Republicans benefited from his push to move Louisiana from closed party primaries to an open primary system in 1976. Edwards spoke at a crowded Baton Rouge Press Club meeting today. At the time, Republicans, possibly meeting in a phone booth somewhere, criticized his support for the change, Edwards says, but it allowed voters to register Republican and still have an impact in elections when Democrats dominated the state. Today, Republicans dominate, although Edwards says he’s pleased the parties have not moved to the far left or far right. He says he hasn’t seen much change in philosophy from former Democrats who have changed parties. When asked what Democrats could do to re-brand the party, Edwards got a laugh by suggesting they “change the name.” Edwards went to prison in 2002 after being convicted for a bribery and extortion scheme to rig Louisiana’s riverboat casino licensing process. He says he never took taxpayers’ money, and says most of the expansion of gambling in the state happened on former Gov. Buddy Roemer’s watch. Edwards was released early this year. Edwards says he doesn’t expect to be pardoned, which he adds might be a good thing because he’d then feel compelled to run for governor. “If I could run, I would run, and I would win and I’d have all [the state’s] problems,” he says. Edwards says a $5 surcharge per barrel of oil extracted in Louisiana could eliminate state debt without raising taxes on individuals. —David Jacobs