Republican candidate Eddie Rispone, left, shakes hands with Democratic Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards before a debate last month. (Associated Press)Edwards, 53, was helped when Louisiana’s top-tier GOP officials decided against running for the seat. Rispone, the 70-year-old owner of a Baton Rouge industrial contracting company, had never run for office and had little name recognition. He hitched his entire candidacy to Trump, introducing himself in ads that focused on support for the president.
Rispone poured more than $12 million of his own money into the race. But he had trouble drawing some of the primary vote that went to U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, after harshly attacking Abraham in ads as he sought to reach the runoff.
Rispone also avoided many traditional public events attended by Louisiana gubernatorial candidates and sidestepped questions about his plans when taking office. He promised tax cuts, without saying where he’d shrink spending, and he pledged a constitutional convention, without detailing what he wanted to rewrite.
Democrats who argue that nominating a moderate presidential candidate is the best approach to beat Trump are certain to point to Louisiana’s race as bolstering their case. Edwards, a U.S. Military Academy graduate and former Army Ranger, opposes gun restrictions, signed one of the nation’s strictest abortion bans and dismissed the ongoing impeachment inquiry against the president as a distraction.
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“They talk about I’m some sort of a radical liberal. The people of Louisiana know better than that. I am squarely in the middle of the political spectrum,” Edwards said, according to The Associated Press. “That hasn’t changed, and that’s the way we’ve been governing.”
The Democrat highlighted his bipartisan work with the majority-GOP state Legislature to end years of budget crises, pass the first K-12 statewide teacher raise in a decade and overhaul criminal sentencing laws. He also hit Rispone for his support of unpopular former Gov. Bobby Jindal, saying Rispone would return Louisiana to policies that boosted state deficits. Edwards said Rispone’s proposal to freeze enrollment in the state’s Medicaid expansion program would force hundreds of thousands off health coverage.
Both parties spent millions on attack ads and get-out-the-vote work, on top of at least $36 million spent by candidates.
Fox News’ Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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from MetNews https://metnews.pw/louisiana-gov-john-bel-edwards-projected-to-win-second-term-beating-gops-rispone/
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