News -> INDReporter FRI, JUL 16 8:28AM by Nathan Stubbs

Poll shows Keaty leading judge's race

Phyllis Keaty enjoys a double digit lead over her three opponents in the race for 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal, according to a poll conducted on behalf of the Keaty campaign by Southern Media & Opinion Research of Baton Rouge. Asking if the Appeals court election were held today between the qualified candidates, all Republicans, of city court judge Francie Bouillion district court judge Phyllis Keaty, attorney Steven "Buzz" Durio and attorney Jeanne Laborde, for whom would you vote, the poll reports 26 percent of respondents opting for Keaty, 12 percent for Bouillion, 10 percent for Laborde and 7 percent for Durio. The poll also shows almost half the voters, 45 percent, are still undecided. The election for Appeals court seat will be held October 2nd.

"We are pleased that the poll confirmed our belief that Judge Keaty is leading in the race," said State Representative Nancy Landry, Chair of the Phyllis Keaty campaign, in a press release announcing the survey results. "With 45 percent of likely voters undecided, there is still a long way to go, but Judge Keaty is also the best known among the candidates with a 56 percent recognition factor, and a 5-1 favorable to unfavorable ration. As a result, it is already clear that Judge Keaty is in the strongest position to expand her base of support and win the election." Bouillion had a 50 percent recognition factor, according to the poll, while Laborde and Durio's were much lower, each at 26 percent. The telephone poll of 300 likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.8 percent and was conducted on July 13th and 14th.


Comments (22)add
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written by IndThinker , July 16, 2010 - 03:41 pm
I was fortunate to be one of the 300 selected to participate in this poll via telephone call on Wednesday evening. I support Buzz Durio in this race. Interestingly, the question "if the Appeals court election were held today, for whom would you vote" was not asked of me. It was obviously a "push" poll, one designed to push Judge Keaty's candidacy on participants. Some of the questions were frankly insulting and not worded in an unbiased fashion, a requirement of scientific polling that any sophomore-level political science major would know. Two of the many examples (closely paraphrasing): "Would you be more or less likely to vote for a candidate if you knew their biggest client was an Indian gaming casino?" and "Would you be more or less likely to vote for a candidate if you knew they were born in Opelousas?" I'm not denying that, with 45 percent undecided, every candidate has work to do. But, The Ind should dig deeper and find out if the poll was truly scientific in its questions and purported results, or just a self-affirmation vehicle for the candidate whose campaign paid for it.
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written by WeAllKnow , July 16, 2010 - 05:11 pm
Anyone backed by Nancy Landry bears close scrutiny as does Landry as well. These two are part of the "powers that be" establishment that needs to be voted down. The fact the Keaty and Landry have a close relationship going back years is frightening in and of itself. With big money on her side as well as a person of high profile, questionable integrity like Landry, Keaty will be hard to beat. But she can be beat. Landry has not done one thing for the people of District 33 since she b.s.'d her way into the legislature. For Keaty to get elected with the backing and management of Landry will be as big a scam or bigger than Don Trahan saying that he works for the people.
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written by Honest Kent , July 16, 2010 - 05:24 pm
"It is my occupation to be plain."
Durio is dead! Out of money, and dead last in the poll.
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written by Wow... , July 16, 2010 - 06:21 pm
Uh, Landry represents District 31, not 33. She was elected in a landslide, with 62% of the vote (66% in the Lafayette Parish portion of her District).

In her short two years in the legislature, she has had 14 bills passed through both houses of the legislature and signed into law by the Governor.

Nancy Landry is held in high regard as one of the most ethical, hard-working people in all of Louisiana politics. She also represents Lafayette on the House & Governmental Affairs Committee responsible for re-districting, so she is a very important person to our community.

In addition, Landry worked as judicial law clerk for Judge Keaty for 3 years, so her support of Keaty is both personal and professional.

Respectfully, you have no idea what you're talking about.

If you Buzz supporters think you can slime and smear your way out of last place against a well known, well respected Judge -- you are welcome to try. :)
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written by Miles Standish , July 16, 2010 - 07:43 pm
I dare the Keaty machine to publish the survey and its results.This is a self serving push poll for a sitting judge who has never practised a day of law in her life, managed by a sitting state representive whose own legal qualifications are equally unimpressive. The Keaty macine is running an obvious (figurative) beauty contest repleat with suckling babys. Ask yourself Acadiana, how can she sit on a court (the 3rd circuit)and evaluate the integrity of lower court judicial decisions when SHE HAS NEVER TRIED ONE SINGLE CASE IN FRONT OF ONE SINGLE COURT IN THE ENTIRETY OF HER "LEGAL"CAREER? Her self described credentials: I have a big heart.In that case, she should really be a nursemaid.
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written by Unempirical Observer , July 16, 2010 - 08:22 pm
Could we please lay off the Horse-Race coverage?
If the Ind isn't able to run anything more newsworthy of substance on these candidates and this race, (as we expect of you) then please don't run this kind of story. I mean, why can't I just place a bet on who's going to pull through in a last second overtake.
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written by Unempirical Observer , July 16, 2010 - 08:25 pm
And P.S. to the commenters... we should remember how negative the Ind's boards became during the Cortez-Leblanc race.... so keep your sensibilities about you before the rage leads the Ind to take all the anonymous posting and shephard it off to a quiet pasture like an old horse to die.
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written by IndThinker , July 16, 2010 - 08:31 pm
The poll started out with numerous general questions about party affiliation and our views on particular national, state, and local politicians. Then it shifted to the Third Circuit race. In one segment, the pollster asked for my impression of members of our local legislative delegation, including Nancy Landry, Mike Michot, Joel Robideaux and Page Cortez. The answer choices were favorable, somewhat favorable, somewhat unfavorable or unfavorable. When I replied that my impression of Mike Michot was "somewhat favorable," the pollster responded to me, "That's a surprise. That's the first one I've gotten on the favorable side. Everyone else said unfavorable." Pretty funny, but really unprofessional and reflective of the credibility, or lack thereof, of the polling organization and the poll results.
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written by Wow... , July 16, 2010 - 09:00 pm
Dear Miles Standish:

Before impugning the qualifications and experience of a respected State District Court Judge with 20 years experience in Louisiana State Courts, and a brilliant, hard-working young State Representative, you might learn how to spell "replete".

The call for civility by "Unempirical Observer" is well-placed and timely.
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written by Interested Voter. , July 16, 2010 - 09:44 pm
Would someone with the Independent please do some research for us? (your readers)
1. I am interested in and would like to know if any complaints have been reported to the judicial ethics committee or to the BAR concerning any of the canidates that are in the running for this seat? What do the reports say and what were the complaints?//
2. Do all of the candidates have court room trial experience or is the statement in an earlier comment to this article true; that not all of the candidates have tried cases in the courtroom.
3. Do all of the candidates have a broad base of knowledge and/or experience for the type of cases that may be reveiwed by the 3rd circuit appeals court that they are running for?
Please give your readers, true accurate facts that will help each of us make intelligent and knowledgable decisions about this race.
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written by Miles Standish , July 16, 2010 - 09:51 pm
Wow
You are correct and I stand corrected;"replete" is the correct spelling. I have followed your suggestion and learned to correctly spell this very important word. So I take it that I might again ask the question:how can she (Keaty)sit as a judge on a court specifically designed to preserve the integrity of lower court judicial decisions when SHE HAS NEVER TRIED ONE SINGLE CASE IN FRONT OF ONE SINGLE COURT IN THE ENTIRETY OF HER "LEGAL" CAREER?
Thanks for teeing that one up for me.Wow.
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written by Morrow , July 17, 2010 - 09:22 pm
"Would you be more or less likely to vote for a person who had never tried a case in their career?"
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written by J Jill , July 17, 2010 - 09:31 pm
When was the poll conducted again?
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written by Miles Standish , July 17, 2010 - 10:12 pm
Dear WOW-
You are right about the word replete. I flat spelled it wrong, I stand corrected. So in as civil tone as possible, I will again ask the question:how can a peron who has never tried a case or appeared before a court in their entire legal career be qualified to make decisions about the rightful or wrongful outcomes of judicial decisions coming out of the lower courts?
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written by Wow... , July 18, 2010 - 03:28 pm
Miles:

Judge Keaty is the only candidate with even a single day of experience in Louisiana's State Courts. She has 20 years of judicial experience, as a judicial law clerk, and as District Court Judge. She has worked thousands of cases in all areas of the law. As a result, she's the only candidate who can make any serious claim to being qualified.

Furthermore, her entire career has been spent in the judiciary, applying judicial values, temperament and perspective to the cases she has worked on.

To put it simply, for Judges, justice is the highest value. For lawyers, representing the interests of your client (winning) is the highest value. For lawyers, the law is adversarial. For Judges, the law is not.

So, let's ask your question again... How can a person who has NEVER HEARD A SINGLE CASE AS A JUDGE AT ANY LEVEL IN THEIR ENTIRE LEGAL CAREER (just using caps, like you did :) )
be qualified to make decisions about the rightful or wrongful outcomes of judicial decisions coming out of the lower courts?

Of all the candidates, only Judge Keaty has ANY judicial experience with either the "lower courts", or the appeals process.

While we're at it:

- only Judge Keaty has served on the Board of Governors of the Louisiana Judicial College (although Buzz Durio gave a speech there once)
- only Judge Keaty has served on the Court Rules Committee and the Family Court Rules Committee of the Supreme Court.
- only Judge Keaty has served on the Executive Board of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals Judges Association.
- only Judge Keaty has any experience working with District Judges and Appellate Judges as peers and colleagues.

So, as a Buzz supporter, you might spend more time explaining the qualifications of your candidate, and less trying to smear and vilify the one candidate with even a scintilla of experience that is directly relevant to the job.

In the end Miles, your argument is a losing one with voters and most rational people.

A Judge with 12 years on the bench and 8 more as a judicial law clerk who never practiced law is far preferable to even a very experienced lawyer with zero judicial experience.

So, please free to keep raising this issue as much as you like. ...as long as you continue to do it nicely.

Thank you for your effort at civility.

PS: As for the poll, please feel free to look the firm up on the Internet. They've been polling in Louisiana for over 30 years, so your 'conspiracy theory' is a little thin. The fact is, your candidate is in last place and apparently, 76% of the people don't know who he is. Perhaps ya'll should start working on that.



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written by Ryan , July 18, 2010 - 08:45 pm
"Buzz supporters think you can smear and slime..."

Excuse me, Wow..., but you're posting under the same name you used to misrepresent Buzz's position in one of Nathan's earlier stories about this race. I corrected you then, and I correct you again now.

http://theind.com/news/6563-keaty-bouillion-post-financial-edge-in-judges-race

Please refrain from tarring others with your own brush... or at least post under a different name to hide your tracks a bit better.
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written by Wow... , July 18, 2010 - 09:41 pm
Sorry, Ryan. You were wrong then, too.

Buzz loaned his campaign $11,600, and as the article noted, ended with $8,800 cash on hand. No loan = out of money.

So, my previous post was entirely accurate. Just didn't see the need to correct you on something that is freely available on the Internet.


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written by ragin_cajun , July 18, 2010 - 10:59 pm
Miles--

" Her self described credentials: I have a big heart.In that case, she should really be a nursemaid. "

:) Now that was inspired. Excellent. You're abslolutely right! Keaty is repeatedly using emotional appeals to solicit votes, and that should be a red flag for all citizens.

A judge's job is to rationally apply the law. How can we have faith that she'll do that when her campaign is based entirely on appeal to emotion--maybe the most over-used logical fallacy.


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written by interrogator , July 19, 2010 - 12:03 am
You are well named. Wow = what a whopper! For example:

"Of all the candidates, only Judge Keaty has any judicial experience with either the "lower courts", or the appeals process."

Let's see how that compares with the facts that

(1)every lawyer who has ever tried a case has dealt with the lower courts, but since Keaty has never tried a case as a lawyer, she never has had any experience with the lower courts (If you know anything at all about lawyers or judges you can't count dealing with yourself as judge as "experience with the lower courts" - if that's what you mean, your statement equating experience with one's own self is pretty plainly ridiculous.

(2)Keaty has never, ever been involved as lawyer in "the appeals process". NOT EVEN ONCE! In fact, SHE'S RUNNING TO BE JUDGE IN A COURT WHERE SHE'S NEVER WORKED AS A LAWYER, NOT EVEN ONCE!



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written by Wow... , July 19, 2010 - 04:22 am
"Interrogator" -- You are making my point. Over and over.

You seem to have a problem understanding the difference between "judicial experience" and being a lawyer.

You are right, she has never worked in private practice as a lawyer. And your candidate has ZERO judicial experience.

That's my point.

A Judge with 20 years judicial experience who has never practiced law is preferable to a lawyer with NO JUDICIAL EXPERIENCE.

But keep going. Every time you raise this issue, you bury your last place candidate a little deeper.

Thank you.
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written by The Original Northsidian , July 19, 2010 - 10:26 pm
I could care less what you yahoo's are talking about! I am voting for Laborde!!
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written by Firminator , July 21, 2010 - 01:22 am
WOW, sounds like you are personally invested in Keaty. To the point ad nauseam. You are starting to sound like the teacher in the Charlie Brown Cartoons(wa wa wa wa). I agree with the original Northsidian, Laborde for me!!!
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