More than 2,000 expected to attend N.O. Republican event

New Orleans will be the center of the Republican political universe Thursday through Saturday, as the city hosts the 2011 Republican Leadership Conference. More than 2,000 people are expected to attend the event, along with at least eight presidential candidates, elected officials from across the U.S. and representatives from every national media outlet. Charlie Davis, president and CEO of the event, told the Baton Rouge Press Club Republicans are flocking to the event because the state GOP has been so effective on the national level. Gov. Bobby Jindal, who is set to speak at the event, is one of the rising Republican stars and a sought-after speaker nationally. And conservative groups such as the Louisiana Family Forum have had successes on a national level. Bringing in national Republican leaders such as Gov. Rick Perry of Texas, former Gov. Mike Huckabee and U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina puts Louisiana issues on a national stage, Davis says. “This gets us a lot of attention,” he says. While the lineup features speeches from Republican presidential candidates Michele Bachmann, Herman Cain, Newt Gingrich, Jon Huntsman, Gary Johnson, Buddy Roemer and Rick Santorum, there’s a chance that Mitt Romney, Tim Pawlenty and Sarah Palin could be added in the next few days. A straw presidential poll will be taken to show which candidates are doing best in the early days of the race. Davis says he hopes the momentum and the success will carry over to early next year, when Louisiana Republicans hold their presidential caucus. “We want to be the fifth or sixth state to hold a primary,” he says. —Timothy Boone