With voters heading to the polls Tuesday, supporters of the various candidates in the Baton Rouge mayor’s race have been launching third-party attack ads in hopes of influencing whether the contest is decided in a primary victory for incumbent Mayor Sharon Weston Broome or in a December runoff.
To that end, a political action committee supporting Broome has been targeting the Republican candidate many believe poses the biggest threat to the Democratic mayor: former State Rep. Steve Carter.
A PAC called Move Baton Rouge Forward has raised more than $22,000 in the past month and appears to be targeting Carter with, among other things, a Facebook ad linking him to former gubernatorial candidate Eddie Rispone, who is co-chairing the Carter campaign.
“Steve Carter is too extreme for Baton Rouge,” the ad reads. “Eddie Rispone is Steve Carter’s Campaign Co-Chair. Steve Carter would take Baton Rouge backward.”
Rispone, a Republican businessman who ran unsuccessfully against Gov. John Bel Edwards in 2019, is more conservative than Carter. Linking the two could hurt Carter among the moderate, white swing voters Carter needs to take from Broome in order to make the runoff, political analysts say.
The Move Baton Rouge Forward PAC states that it was formed to support Broome and its treasurer is Democratic political consultant Ryan Berni. Its funds have come from three well-known businesses: Bernhard Capital, which contributed $15,000; Lipsey’s, which contributed $5,000; and Acadian Ambulance, which contributed $2,500.
Meanwhile, a PAC with ties to Carter is targeting fellow Republican Matt Watson, who appears to be Carter’s greatest threat to making a runoff. A poll released in early October by the Baton Rouge Area Chamber showed Carter and Watson neck-in-neck for the No. 2 spot in the race, though Carter is much better funded.
The Red Stick Forward PAC has blanketed south Baton Rouge with a negative flyer that accuses Watson of being a RINO, or Republican in Name Only, and questions the amount of campaign funds he has spent on local bar tabs.
“Now imagine how he will spend OUR TAX MONEY,” the flyer reads.
The Red Stick Forward PAC is chaired by well-known GOP political consultant Kyle Ruckert and its sole contribution of $30,000 came from LUBU Productions LLC, an entity with a New Orleans post office box.
Among the two officers of LUBU Productions, according to the Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office of Corporations, is Six G’s, LLC, which is owned by Gloria Solomon Carter, Steve Carter’s wife, and six of her family members.
Carter and Ruckert did not return calls seeking comment.
Political consultant Bernie Pinsonat, who is not affiliated with either campaign, says it is not surprising to see third-party attack ads in the final days of a crowded race.
“This is what you would expect to see,” Pinsonat says. “Carter’s strategy is to get into the runoff, so his supporters have a PAC attacking Watson, which is the smart thing to do. The Broome people are trying to make sure she’ll get it in the primary.”
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