As important as the fall elections are seen to be for the closely divided Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, recruiting candidates for the eight elected seats is proving difficult, both for backers of the governor’s agenda and for allies of local school officials and teacher groups. Emblematic of the political inertia of BESE races, the board’s most outspoken critic of traditional education policies, Chas Roemer, has yet to commit to running for re-election in the Baton Rouge-based 6th District, after earlier saying he might not seek a second term. The key turnover target to bolster the administration’s slim board majority is the southwestern 7th District, where Holly Boffy of Lafayette, last year’s state teacher of the year, is challenging Dale Bayard of Lafayette, a solid vote for the teacher unions and administrators.
—The Louisiana Committee for a Republican Majority, led by U.S. Sen. David Vitter, has targeted four incumbent House Democrats and six open seats now held by Democrats, while listing Rep. Taylor Barras, D-New Iberia, as a “switch target.” LCRM hopes to oust four Democrats: Rep. James Armes of Leesville, opposed by Jack Causey, who narrowly lost the 2007 runoff; Rep. Bobby Badon of Carencro, opposed by St. Landry Parish President and recent GOP convert Don Menard; Rep. Bernard Lebas of Ville Platte, opposed by Peter Vidrine; Rep. Jack Montoucet of Scott, opposed by Anthony Emmons.
They said it: “The only reason that building is standing up is that the termites are holding hands.”—Baton Rouge Mayor Kip Holden, quoting a former police chief on the condition of the city police headquarters, in The Advocate
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
