Gov. Jindal stays out of key education board races

Among the well-recognized names to be found on campaign finance reports of a candidate for a New Orleans-based seat on the state education board, one is conspicuously absent: Bobby Jindal. Louisiana’s governor hasn’t made an endorsement in the runoff between incumbent Louella Givens and challenger Kira Orange Jones, nor has he made a campaign contribution to either candidate. He also has stayed out of a race in the Baton Rouge area, where newcomers Jimmy Guillory and Carolyn Hill hope to replace incumbent Linda Johnson, who didn’t run again. “Nobody in those races has sought the governor’s endorsement,” Jindal spokesman Kyle Plotkin says in an email. There are runoffs in three Board of Elementary and Secondary Education races on Nov. 19. Jindal has endorsed, and his campaign fund has donated money, in only one. It pits incumbent Chas Roemer, who has supported Jindal initiatives and has his backing, against challenger Donald Songy. Read the full story by The Associated Press at The Times-Picayune website here.