During the most recent reporting period, state Sen. Walter Boasso, a Democrat from Chalmette, spent almost $1.6 million; Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, the race's other Democrat from Bossier Parish, shelled out a meager $466,000; Metairie businessman John Georges, the Republican-turned-independent, ponied up a staggered $4.8 million; and GOP Congressman Bobby Jindal of Kenner spent about $1 million.
If you want to know what separates Jindal, the clear frontrunner, from the rest of the pack ' despite his relatively low spending total ' just consider where more than a quarter of his money went. Jindal's expenditure report reads like a breakdown of the old-time Democratic Get Out the Vote machines, with dozens of names of volunteers being paid everything from $50 to $1,000 for work. There are also a slew of salaried campaign workers. In all, Jindal cut 339 individual checks from April to July totaling more than $270,500 to staff and volunteers, far more than any other candidate in the race.
In addition to ways to win, spending also sheds a light on behind-the-scenes maneuvering. Boasso caused a massive political tsunami to take form earlier this year when he dropped the GOP banner to run for governor as a Democrat ' a no-brainer considering state Republicans were already married to Jindal. Just weeks after switching, Boasso's report shows he offered an olive branch to the Legislative Black Caucus Foundation in the form of a $1,000 donation paid for with campaign contributions, or his own cash, which is largely fueling the campaign. He also purchased $2,000 worth of tickets for a Democratic Party fundraiser.
Noticeably absent from Boasso's expenditures following the turncoat, though, are payments to James Hartman of Covington for "consulting services." That's because Hartman jumped ship and is now showing up on Georges' reports as press secretary ' making about $5,000 monthly, or roughly $500 less than what Boasso was paying.
The people and firms candidates surround themselves with are normally scrutinized for any potential conflict, as evidenced by Jindal, who has unarguably been running for governor for four years. He spent about $108,000 with OnMessage of Virginia, a firm that oversaw the national party's $20 million spending plan to elect President Bush in 2004. The Alexandria-based company is known for its snappy ads that build upon a Republican brand, which is a perfect fit for Jindal. He has likewise paid out $10,600 to GCR in New Orleans, an election-consulting firm that ironically helped Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, top Jindal in 2003.
Boasso, meanwhile, has placed $14,000 on the usually-stoic advice of New York's own Arthur J. Finkelstein, a secretive op who has advised uber-conservatives like late President Richard Nixon and former U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms. Hildebrand Tewes, the Democratic firm behind the rapid rise to fame of presidential hopeful and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, is also on the Boasso train, although carrying a bit more luggage (a top exec was recently canned for embezzling $100,000).
Georges decided to keep it local for at least one of his PR consultants, and it's a name most in New Orleans will likely know. Danae Columbus and Associates was paid $3,000 by the Georges campaign during the reporting period. Before Columbus joined up, she lost her communications contract with the New Orleans City Council in December after publicly using a racially offensive term when referring to a set of light fixtures in the council chambers, according to coverage by The Times-Picayune.
No matter who is hired, campaigns are costly, or at least as costly as the candidates make them. Campbell, for instance, spent $10,600 on those pesky, wire-framed yard signs alone. Boasso paid $14,700 for "campaign t-shirts" from the South Carolina-based Lisella Public Affairs, a highly-regarded GOP outfit. Campbell, however, probably had the most fun spending his campaign contributions ' $198 on LSU football season tickets and $320 on individual tickets.
Of course, all of these expenditures just scratch the surface; they certainly don't add up to $8 million. But the sweetest of all expenditures are referred to as in-kind, meaning contributions of goods or services at no charge or less than fair market value. In short, free stuff. No other candidate is more skilled at this perk than Jindal. He was comped $9,000 worth of rental charges for his different headquarters around the state, including Lake Charles, Shreveport, New Iberia, Metairie and Mandeville. He has also benefited from more than $4,100 worth of free hotel rooms, from Holiday Inns to Courtyard Marriotts, proving that voters aren't only bolstering Jindal early in the polls, but they're also willing to leave the light on for him.
MAY 21 Gambit columnist Clancy DuBos writes about the Mother's Day shooting, and how the stages of shock and blame and healing mirror those traveled by the same city following Hurricane Katrina. The city will recover, just as it did following the storm, by reaching out to help the people injured most seriously by the event, DuBos writes. It's how we heal, he says.
MAY 21 Here's a post on the Advocate (but buried on a subpage, not on the front) that reports something Louisiana Voice reported some time ago: a top DOE official lives in Los Angeles and "commutes" to Baton Rouge. The positioning of the story caused a stir on Facebook Monday, with several posters asking if the Advocate was covering someone's hiney. Sentell's stories on DOE are notoriously soft, and this one is no different: don't expect any hard questions in here.
MAY 21 Here's another post from blogger Tom Aswell about the "course choice" program. He's already reported on kids being signed up without their consent or knowledge, and has more here: For example, he tells of a six-year-old who was signed up for high school Latin. He also digs a little deeper into the sister companies of the main one operating in Louisiana; all of them seem to have complaints against them. Stinky.
MAY 21 Given the 80 percent cut in higher ed funding since he's been in office, it's clear Gov. Jindal would rather give tax cuts to out of state companies than have a functioning system, blogger Dayne Sherman argues in this post. The cuts have been such a disaster, Sherman says, that it will take 30 years to fix what's been broken. He says he believes the aim is to shut down most of the schools before Jindal leaves in 2016.
MAY 21 Blogger CB Forgotston says there are too many elections in Louisiana, and they're costing us too much money. The proof is in the pudding: turnout for most of these nonsensical pollings gets worse and worse, CB opines, even as millions of dollars that could be spent on health care or higher ed go down the tubes. The legislature must take action to stem the tide of pointless elections, he says.
MAY 21 Here's an interesting investigative piece by WVUE on the retirement benefits of some Jefferson Parish public employees. According to the story, the taxpayers are paying 100 percent of the retirement contributions of employees who started work prior to a certain date in April 1986 -- and have done for more than 30 years. It costs the parish millions annually, and might not be legal, the story reports.
MAY 21 This post on Bayou Buzz provides insight from Louisiana's intrepid pollster, Bernie Pinsonat, on the winners and losers from this year's legislative session. But to hear Bernie tell it, there's almost nuttin but losers: Jindal, the Republican party, the Fiscal Hawks all get big goose eggs in his win column.
MAY 20 This post on The Lens takes a look at a huge (either $500K or $250K) bill that one NOLA charter now has for school lunches. The RSD says the charter group didn't fill out the proper paperwork for federal reimbursement, but the story details how the RSD didn't ensure the people running the charter had the proper training, despite requests from hapless charter employees trying to fill out forms. Either way, somebody's asleep at the wheel.
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