For the first time in his career as an elected official, Gov. Bobby Jindal’s job approval ratings have sagged into negative territory, with a new poll reporting only 46% positive to 48% negative. The survey, commissioned by the Louisiana State Medical Society, also shows that voters don’t agree with the governor’s refusal to accept the Medicaid expansion, with 51% for state participation and 43% against it. This week Jindal came under increasing pressure on the issue from GOP governors elsewhere changing their positions to accept the expansion and, closer to home, from a public letter signed by a slate of special interest groups. Voter/Consumer Research of Washington, D.C., ran the telephone poll of 600 state voters on Jan. 13-17, with a margin of error of plus or minus 4%.
—An apparent parting of ways between Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, and consultant Timmy Teepell creates uncertainty and an opening in Republican efforts to challenge Democratic Sen. Mary Landrieu in 2014. When Cassidy signed up Teepell, Gov. Jindal’s political adviser, to run his re-election campaign last year, Republicans took it as a sign that the party would unify behind the three-term congressman’s expected Senate campaign. But several political sources say that after he was re-elected, Cassidy informed Teepell that he no longer needed the consultant’s services. It is not clear why the separation occurred, or if it is permanent, but news of it created uncertainty in the developing Senate race. Soon after, both Rep. John Fleming, R-Minden, and Republican BESE Chairman Chas Roemer said they were thinking about running.
They said it: “Nice to have him in the state spending money at my business.” —John Georges on Gov. Bobby Jindal’s planned fundraiser at Galatoire’s, in The Advocate.
(John Maginnis publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com.)
Today’s poll question: Do you approve of the job that Gov. Bobby Jindal is doing?
