Tucker announces for secretary of state

House Speaker Jim Tucker told reporters today that he intends to raise more than $1 million to launch a primary bid for secretary of state this fall. Tucker says he already has $300,000 in the bank and possibly as much as $400,000 committed. “And then, if necessary, we’ll put in personal resources,” Tucker said during an hour-long speech to the Baton Rouge Press Club. Tucker, an Algiers resident with a term-limited gavel, is hoping to pick off Tom Schedler, who was appointed secretary of state last year. Schedler, a former state senator from St. Tammany Parish, fired off a press release just moments before Tucker took to the podium to deliver remarks in which Schedler was referred to as a “friend.” But in the release, Schedler lashed out at Tucker for supporting a pay raise for legislators and suggested that his campaign for secretary is “his plan for getting the pay raise he always wanted.” On the heels of his earlier pleasantries, Tucker made light of Schedler’s attack when questioned. “Sometimes friends make mistakes,” Tucker said with a laugh. Then he explained his stance. In 2008, Tucker said he made a public announcement that he would give the increase from any such salary hike to charity. Moreover, he argued that his stance became better defined a few years later when he voted in favor of a constitutional amendment that would ban lawmakers from accepting raises in the same terms they approved them. Read the full story here. —Jeremy Alford