For a good portion of next week, I’ll be in Louisiana, working on an article for the magazine on Louisana Gov. Bobby Jindal and the accomplishments of his first term. Besides his policy successes, Jindal has already surprised the state by making the Louisiana Democrat Party a virtual nonentity in this year’s gubernatorial race:
Campaign reports filed last week with the state Board of Ethics showed just how big a financing disparity exists between Gov. Bobby Jindal and his nine challengers in the Oct. 22 primary.*
Jindal has more than $7.7 million left in the bank for his campaign,
While Jindal had more than $7.7 million left in the bank, his best-financed opponent, Democrat Tara Hollis, had just $4,612 on hand — or .06 percent of Jindal’s total.
* Louisiana has the unusual primary system where ever candidate runs in the same primary and the general election consists of the top two finishers. In most races, that turns out to be the Republican and the Democrat but you can have “general election” contests consisting of two members of the same party. If a candidate wins more than 50 percent in the “primary” election, no general election is held.
Thus, unless the four little-known Democrats, lone Libertarian, and four other candidates with no party affiliation keep Jindal below 50 percent on October 22, he will be officially reelected in late October.