Money talks: More than $30 million was spent on TV political ads in Louisiana’s recently-ended elections. The Associated Press reports an ad spending analysis released this morning by the Center for Public Integrity shows two-thirds of the TV advertising dollars were spent on the governor’s race. The data shows more than 54,000 TV commercials aired in that competition. Democrat John Bel Edwards won the election, defeating Republican David Vitter in the Nov. 21 runoff. TV ad spending in the race was nearly evenly split between candidates and outside political groups. Vitter’s campaign paid the most on TV ads—$4.1 million, compared to Edwards’ $3.2 million. A pro-Vitter super PAC poured $3.7 million into TV political ads, the heftiest sum among political action committees. The Center for Public Integrity analyzed data from Kantar Media/CMAG, a media tracking firm.
That’s an order: Governor-elect John Bel Edwards says he’ll issue an executive order when he takes office in January that bans discrimination in state government based on sexual orientation, The Associated Press reports. Edwards says the edict will be similar to anti-discrimination orders enacted by Democratic former governors Edwin Edwards and Kathleen Blanco. Blanco’s order prohibited state agencies and contractors from various sorts of harassment and discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, political affiliation or disabilities. Edwards described issuing such an order as “the right thing to do.” The order by Blanco stirred up complaints when it was put in place. Conservative groups derided the executive order while gay rights groups applauded it. Gov. Bobby Jindal and former Gov. Mike Foster—both Republicans—did not enact similar executive orders while in office.
Training time: The Louisiana Business & Technology Center at LSU is among 36 companies and organizations from eight regional states selected to participate in a series of technical assistance training sessions on business development and entrepreneurship. The training is being offered through a fellowship by The Delta Entrepreneurship Network, a program of the Delta Regional Authority created to identify, connect and grow the entrepreneurial ecosystems that drive local and regional economies. The LSU incubator is the only Baton Rouge participant. Five Louisiana companies are also participating in the training. They will also participate in New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, hosted by The Idea Village, on March 11-18 in New Orleans. Get complete details.
