He’s been running longer than anyone else in the race, so it’s only natural that state Rep. John Bel Edwards, D-Amite, would get the first round of big endorsements. But it’s the one he doesn’t have yet that has politicos watching out for more. Sources tell LaPolitics that the Louisiana Democratic Party will move to have Edwards endorsed at the March 28 Democratic State Central Committee meeting. Many New Orleans players are on board, which may suggest something about Mayor Mitch Landrieu’s flirtations with the race. The Louisiana Association of Educators may take an endorsement vote as well in early April. Two nods came through last week from the Louisiana Federation of Teachers and the state AFL-CIO. While longtime Democrats suggest the AFL-CIO endorsement isn’t what it used to be, it certainly gives Edwards cover in a field that is expected to pick up at least one more candidate on the left. Any other Democrat in the race would definitely be behind the curve in this specific area given Edwards’ field work with the unions. The big question is whether the national arms of these unions will be willing to get involved. Louisiana already saw national union PACs spend heavily in Jefferson Parish’s school board elections last year.
—So far there’s only one new privatization push this session coming from the administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal: a solicitation for a third party to provide services for daily operations and management of the chilled water plants in Baton Rouge. “There’s nothing else that I know of,” says Gregory Dupuis, a spokesperson for the Division of Administration. The administration was unable to immediately provide an annual savings when contacted by LaPolitics, but when coupled with surplus property sales in the coming fiscal year, which is how the privatization was pitched to lawmakers last month, combined savings come to $17 million. Dupuis says the state will purchase chilled water back from the provider at a competitive or even discounted rate. The provider selected will in turn leverage the plants by selling the same services to other customers. The provider will also be on the hook for maintenance, improvements and equipment. The state will still maintain ownership of the plants throughout the term that’s negotiated.
They said it: “I’ve jumped out of planes at 2 o’clock in the morning, so looking at you at 7:45 in the morning isn’t hard.” —State Rep. John Bel Edwards, a former Airborne Ranger, at an early morning gubernatorial forum last week hosted by the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at http://www.lapolitics.com LaPolitics.com. Follow him on https://twitter.com/LaPoliticsNow Twitter, or on https://www.facebook.com/LaPolitics?ref=hl Facebook. He can be reached at mailto:JJA@LaPolitics.com JJA@LaPolitics.com.
