An announcement may or may not be forthcoming, but various bits and pieces for a gubernatorial bid from U.S. Sen. John Kennedy are being put together. According to senior campaign staffers, Kennedy met with advisors last week and has since cleared media consultant Fred Davis to begin work on the 2019 cycle. “I believe he’s going to run,” said a longtime Kennedy associate.The California-based Davis, who has worked with Kennedy in the past, confirmed his marching orders last week. “My gut feels he’s pretty serious,” Davis said of the junior senator. When Kennedy ran for the Senate in 2008, he announced in November 2007. For the 2016 Senate race, Kennedy was an official candidate by February of that year. If those are our historic JNK guidelines, then we’re inside that announcement sweet spot right now. Aside from Gov. John Bel Edwards, the only other recent moves have originated with Baton Rouge businessman Eddie Rispone, who has formed an exploratory committee.
The other possible candidates include:
• Attorney General Jeff Landry
• Congressman Ralph Abraham
• State Sen. Sharon Hewitt
• LABI President Stephen Waguespack
They Said It: “A lot of people either didn’t know about it or were oblivious to it, but now that there’s been so much push back, everybody wants to fix it.”—Rep. Jay Morris, on the suspension of sales tax holidays, in The Concordia Sentinel
Jeremy Alford publishes LaPolitics Weekly, a newsletter on Louisiana politics, at LaPolitics.com. Follow him on Twitter, or on Facebook. He can be reached at JJA@LaPolitics.com.
