With the Sixth Congressional Party runoffs looming on Saturday, April 5th, GOP frontrunner Woody Jenkins, sensing a tightening in his race, challenged opponent Laurinda Calongne on her vocal support of earmarks, a form of appropriations to which Jenkins stands in strong opposition.
Calongne retorted that Jenkins’ opposition to the current practice--where members of Congress direct funds to be spent on specific projects outside of the normal appropriations process--could undermine the chances of District 6 receiving critical funding priorities from Washington.In other words, the former lobbyist-turned-GOP candidate argued, Jenkins would not be as effective in building new road projects as she.
In that debate, the 35 residents who gathered for the Juban North Civic Association's monthly meeting saw a glimpse of the issue that not only has consumed the party primary, but could dominate the general election fight next month.Should Jenkins win on Saturday, as polls indicate, he will likely face Democrat State Rep. Don Cazayoux of New Roads (currently a narrow favorite in his own closely fought contest State Rep.
Michael Jackson of Baton Rouge).
Cazayoux is supportive of earmarks like Calongne, and Jenkins and his allies in the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) have already begun to frame the race as a reformer versus an insider.
Jenkins’ image as apolitical reformer faces a challenge in the general election, though; Independent Ashley Casey is attempting to claim that political ground.
Casey, a Republican-turned-Independent, took the “Change Congress” pledge last week.The bipartisan initiative authored by DC Brahmins Lawrence Lessig and Joe Trippi seeks to reform the way “Washington does business” by asking candidates to promise to (1) Reject money from lobbyists and PACs; (2) Vote to ban earmarks; (3) Support public financing of political campaigns; and (4) Support total Congressional transparency.
She signed on to all the proposals except the promise to support public financing.Casey, the former political consultant for John Georges and Suzie Terrell, seeks to demonstrate to the public that she is the only candidate truly Independent of the Washington power-brokers in the race.It is a position that could cause much damage to Jenkins’
general election strategy.
As Casey explained to Bayoubuzz.com, the Sixth District contains the fastest growing percentage of registered independents in Louisiana.A targeted appeal by her campaign that she is unattached to the Washington political establishment of either party, she believes, could motivate enough voters in a low turnout general election to provide her a narrow plurality in May.
As most voters do not seem to understand the nature of Louisiana’s new closed primary system for Federal elections, Casey’s argument that turnout in next month’s general election could be lower than the less than 20% expected on Saturday, April 5th carries some weight.Theoretically, a highly motivated minority of independents merged with disaffected Democrats and Republicans could provide enough of a coalition for her to edge past the other major candidates in a first past the post general election.
More likely, though, Casey’s reformist image could draw enough support away from a frontrunning, major candidate to swing the election.Her critics complain that Casey’s presence as a Conservative Independent standing against a malfunctioning Congress would have the practical effect of drawing just enough votes away from Woody Jenkins to throw the election to Don
Cazayoux.
Casey, in their view, would play the spoiler, turning a Republican Congressional seat into a Democratic one, and her critics argue that any GOP vote for her is, in fact, a vote for Cazayoux.The former political consultant disagrees.
In an interview, she noted that the most recent attacks against her candidacy came from Cazayoux operatives, and speculated that the Democrats are worried that she could draw Independents away from their moderate Democratic standbearer Don Cazayoux--Independent voters whom Democratic leaders counted upon never to vote for an ardent right wing, social conservative like Woody Jenkins.In other words, Casey maintained, the State Democratic Party worries her reform-based candidacy could draw away Independent voters who would otherwise be more attracted to Cazayoux’s professed John Breaux-like political centrism than Jenkins’ strident conservatism.
Still, from the standpoint of reforming Congress, Casey, like Jenkins, stands more firmly against the practices like earmarking than Cazayoux.Her pledge not to accept Political Action Committee funds puts her more firmly on the campaign finance reformist bandwagon than Jenkins.There is a strong possibility that she could hurt him more than Cazayoux.
For example, the former Baton Rouge State Rep. and U.S. Senate candidate accepted extensive PAC contributions in this, as in past races.Jenkins is on record as an opponent of attempting to ban PAC funds, calling such a measure detrimental to both conservative causes and free speech.He refuses to condemn PACs as Casey has.
Chronic Independent voters rank the elimination of PAC contributions, like the banning of earmarks, as a deciding issue in choosing which way to vote, according to several national surveys.By casting a more reformist image than Jenkins, Casey undermines one of the major political justifications that the former U.S. Senate candidate has employed to woo moderate voters into the GOP column, and her strategy could have a major impact on his chances of victory in a general election.
In a district where incumbent Republican Richard Baker beat Democrat Marjorie McKeithen by less than 1500 votes, a one percent swing on election day could make all the difference, and Casey’s “Change Congress”
pledge could swing enough voters to impact which party
controls the Sixth District.
In taking the pledge , Casey joins fellow challengers Republican Amit Singh (8th District, Va.), Democrat Ethan Strimling (1st District, Maine), Democrat Ed Fallon (3rd District, Iowa), and incumbent Democratic Congressman Jim Cooper (5th District, TN).
