Author: manshipxgr

Published: January 7, 2020

By: Lara Nicholson, LSU Manship School News Service

DES MOINES, Iowa—The Democratic presidential race is evolving into a two-tier contest: the top four candidates, Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, and the remaining fringe candidates fighting for the chance to catch fire.

Host David Yepsen of Iowa’s public TV show, “Iowa Press,” said no one metric — including polls, fundraising or crowd sizes — can predict a winner. According to Yepsen, a former political reporter here, the only way to know who will win is from old fashioned word-of-mouth and assessing grassroots campaign efforts.

“I don’t put any faith in polls,” said Iowan retiree Tom Hawks. “We never answer our phone for any of them, so there’s one whole number they never get.”

Iowans also tend to decide late. They take the caucus seriously and will attend as many as five candidates’ events before making a decision on caucus night Feb. 3.

It may be a long shot for these candidates to beat the four leaders in the race, but it’s not impossible.

In 2004, Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts unexpectedly took both the Iowa caucus and the presidential nomination after lagging in the polls. From September 2003 until shortly before the Iowa caucus, candidates Howard Dean of Vermont and Rep. Dick Gephardt of Missouri led in the polls, beating Kerry by over 10 points for most of that time.

Caucuses are a complicated process, a “social experience” as some Iowans say, and only occur in six states: Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Nevada, North Dakota and Wyoming.

As Iowa is the first, it can often determine which candidates can fight on in another state. The Democratic winner of the Iowa caucus has won the party’s nomination in every election since Kerry’s 2004 upset.

Read more at The Daily Advertiser.

Published: December 20, 2019

By: Ben Baumgardner and Catherine Hunt, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—Every year at Denham Springs Junior High, Elizabeth Rea gives her students a quiz to help them to formulate their own political opinions.

“I take it with them, and depending on what kinds of questions are asked, my opinions change over time,” she said. “On some issues, I’m more moderate now as I’ve gotten older.”

Rea, who used to be the most conservative member of her family, found herself siding with Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards in last month’s gubernatorial election.

Edwards remains the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, even though President Donald Trump, who is popular in Louisiana, campaigned strongly against him. To win re-election, Edwards needed support from some voters like Rea who voted for the president in 2016.

What drove some supporters of the Republican president to vote for the Democratic governor?

Some Trump-Edwards voters said in interviews that the dynamics of the governor’s race differed greatly from those of the 2016 presidential election, when some voted for Trump only as a way to ensure that Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton would not be elected president.

Mike Casteel, 61, of Sulphur, said his vote for Trump was a vote against Clinton.

“I’m not a party-line voter, but I just didn’t want to take any chances with Hillary or anyone associated with her,” he said.

Makenzie Morgan, a 21-year-old college student in Baton Rouge, agreed that the 2016 election “was kind of choosing between the lesser of two evils.”

Yet, she and others said, the similarities between Trump and Edwards’ recent Republican opponent, Eddie Rispone, became red flags to them.

“I think Rispone aligning himself with Trump so much made me not like him more,” said Morgan. “Yes, Trump has done some good things for the national economy, but you can’t just say you’re going to be the Trump of Louisiana and expect to win.”

Read more at the Shreveport Times.

Published: December 12, 2019

By: Ava Perego, Raymond Constantino, Kristen Singleton, Falcon Brown, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE —One LSU student walked through security and ID checks to purchase a legal vape cartridge filled with cannabis oil in Los Angeles. Another walked up to the back of a van off a dimly lit road somewhere in Louisiana to buy one illegally; no ID checks, no security and no certainty that the purchase was safe.

This is the reality of the so-called THC black market in Louisiana, the local part of the nationwide scare over deaths and illnesses related to vaping with electronic cigarettes. THC, or tetrahydrocannabinol, is the psychoactive chemical in marijuana that causes users to get high.

The Louisiana Health Department reported that the state now has over 30 cases of lung injury – and one death — associated with vaping a combination of THC and nicotine. The combination of both substances contributed to 55% of the illnesses, more than the reported illnesses caused from both nicotine and THC independently.

Nearly 2,300 people nationwide have been diagnosed with lung illnesses related to vaping, according to the Centers for Disease Control, and 48 of them have died.

Most of those illnesses have been linked to the use of THC cartridges in states where marijuana is not legal and black-market dealers are substituting cheaper and possibly harmful chemicals for some of the THC oil.

The onset of lung illness comes suddenly. Nausea, abdominal pain, chills, cough and fever are only a few of the symptoms. In some cases, these symptoms can turn into a deadly sickness. One LSU student spent several days on a breathing machine at a Baton Rouge hospital after vaping THC.

Seeing these red flags, students at the state’s flagship university are beginning to open up about how easy it has been to obtain the cartridges on the black market, their growing hesitation about using them and why they vaped illegal cartridges in the past. From what their friends say the same problems are evident at other universities in the state.

“There is such easy access to THC cartridges, which makes it convenient for students to purchase,” said an LSU sophomore, one of several students who agreed to talk about the black-market vaping products as long as their names were not used.

The student said she started smoking THC cartridges, or carts, when she began college. She knew a friend who sold them for $40.

“I bought my first cartridge from a friend at a house party my freshman year,” she said. “That was the first time I ever had, or had even seen, a THC cart, so I was definitely not aware of the fake carts going around.”

Read more at 4WWL.com.

Published: December 10, 2019

By: Cortney Brown, LSU Manship School News Service

Watch at the Natchitoches Times.

Published: November 25, 2019

By: Tanner Craft, Tyler Eschette, Grayson Miller, Kristen Payne, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—Northwestern State had the Bears on their heels on Oct. 19, looking to erase an 0-6 start to the season. Just nine yards separated the Demons from potential overtime with No. 13 Central Arkansas. Demons quarterback Shelton Eppler took the snap, dropped back and found a receiver in the back of the end zone. Now the decision: Go for two and the win or play it safe and go to overtime? Easy choice for a coach who is trying to turn his program around – go for two.

At the 50-yard line, six rows up in the stands, Renee Laird, the wife of head coach Brad Laird, waits, hands clasped nervously around her face, for the most dramatic moment of the season to unfold. Eppler drops back again and sees his receiver with a step on his defender. But the pass gets knocked away, and Renee Laird collapses in disappointment, undoubtedly feeling the same raw emotion as her husband.

Coaches and their families go through many stresses, no matter the sport, and Renee Laird’s reaction illustrates how difficult it can be to weather the ups and downs. Whether it be the never-ending pressure of building a program or the time that coaches spend away from home, the impact is the same. And in recent interviews, Mrs. Laird and Northwestern State coaches described the emotional roller-coaster that they and their families are often on.

“It’s very stressful because you see the preparation that goes in before the actual game day and the hours spent away from home, and that’s all the coaches,” Renee Laird said.

Her husband, 46, came back to Northwestern State to be the head coach in 2018, after being one of the best players to ever wear the purple and orange. Laird holds the Demon record for career passing yards from his time as the school’s gunslinger.

His goal was simple, to set a foundation and find success for a program that has not had a winning season since 2008, when the Demons finished 7-5 under Coach Scott Stoker. Dale Peveto followed Stoker with a 14-30 record, and the results were not much different under Jay Thomas. He was 21-36 in the five seasons leading up to Laird’s hiring and homecoming.

The Demons went 5-6 during the first season under Laird, leaving Demon fans hopeful for the future. However, the Demons seemed to be backtracking this year right through that loss to Central Arkansas. But they rebounded to win three of their next four games, including a big upset over Sam Houston State, before losing Thursday night to end the season 3-9.

Renee Laird said it’s crucial to stay positive and maintain a sense of perspective.

“We do want to win, but at the end of the day, there’s a lot more that goes into football and coaching kids and making them better at more than just football,” she said. “We knew coming in that we were going to have to rebuild. Unfortunately, you can’t see the leaps and bounds that they’ve made from game to game. All people see at the end is a score.”

Laird is well-liked by his players and Demon fans, and he should have time to prove himself, even though everyone knows that the pressure to win more games is always there. Since 2015, at least 20 college football coaches have lost their jobs each year, and most of the other schools in Louisiana — including the Demons’ Southland Conference rivals Southeastern Louisiana, McNeese State and Nicholls State – are enjoying winning seasons.

Read more at 4WWL.com.

Published: November 13, 2019

By: Maria Marsh and Abigail Hendren, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—While most of the attention is on the tight governor’s race in Saturday’s runoff election, a battle over whether Republicans will gain a supermajority in the state House of Representatives also seems close.

Republicans reached a super-majority in the Louisiana Senate during the primary last month but need to hold 70 seats to reach a supermajority in the House. The Republicans are seven seats shy of that goal, which would equal two-thirds of the 105 total House seats, and whether they reach it could come down to how they fare Saturday in two or three largely suburban districts.

A supermajority in both chambers of the Legislature would give Republican lawmakers the ability to override vetoes by the governor if they voted together.

“If the Republicans have a supermajority in both houses, that means that, in effect, the Republican Party will be the governor of this state,” said Robert Mann, a political analyst at LSU’s Manship School of Mass Communication.

Democratic or independent candidates in seven districts that President Donald Trump carried in 2016 are fighting to prevent this. The Republicans need to sweep all seven of these races on Saturday to achieve the supermajority in the House.

House District 70 in Baton Rouge is one of the most crucial districts for the Democrats to flip if they want to prevent the Republican supermajority. The district was Trump’s worst-performing of the districts that he carried in the state.

Michael Henderson, who heads LSU’s Public Policy Research Lab, contends in his blog “Louisiana By The Numbers” that District 70 is the Democrats’ best chance at preventing a supermajority.

Henderson added that non-Republican candidates also have some chance – but not as strong as in District 70 –to win in District 62 in East Baton Rouge Parish and the Felicianas and District 94 in Orleans and Jefferson parishes.

In addition to what she had raised in private donations, District 70 Democratic candidate Belinda Davis has received the largest financial backing from Democratic party organizations among the Democrats in the House races, according to financial reports available on the Secretary of State website.

The House Democratic Campaign Committee donated nearly $65,000 to Davis’s campaign since September 23. Just under $45,000 of that came in in-kind donations, including a $30,000 media buy.

Read more at KALB.com.

(Photo Credit: Cam427r/CC BY SA 3.0/MGN)

Published: October 10, 2019

By: Hailey Auglair, Evan Saacks, Maria Marsh and Liz Garner, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—Concerned that Republicans could be close to reaching a super-majority in each chamber of the Louisiana Legislature, Democrats are making their strongest efforts to flip Republican seats in suburban districts.

The Democrats are targeting these districts because President Donald Trump carried most of them by smaller vote margins in the 2016 election than he won by in more rural areas.

Democrats are running for 27 of 86 state House or Senate seats now held by Republicans. Sixteen of those 27 districts are in Baton Rouge, New Orleans, Shreveport and Lafayette or their suburban areas.

“Suddenly we’re realizing that these suburban areas outside of these big urban areas are becoming more and more Democrat, and those used to be Republican enclaves,” LSU Mass Communication professor and political historian Robert Mann said. “If it were a bluer state, you wouldn’t have to work as hard to find those voters.”

If you’re looking for Democratic voters, Mann said, “You’ve got to work harder and find little pockets. That’s why knowing that they’re more likely to be in urban and suburban areas allows you to target your efforts and not waste as much money.”

In other parts of the country, the Democrats tapped into increased support in suburban districts to win enough U.S. House seats in 2018 to take control of that chamber.

A supermajority in each chamber in Baton Rouge would mean that the Republicans held at least two-thirds of the seats.

Getting there, however, would require them to unseat some incumbents – a rare accomplishment in Louisiana elections – and hold onto most of the seats they already have.

The Democrats also are having success in fundraising in a few, but not all, of the key Louisiana districts this fall.

Democrats’ strongest efforts are in districts like the 16th Senate District, the 70th House District in East Baton Rouge Parish and the 94th House District in Orleans and Jefferson parishes. The Democrats in these three races have raised about $268,000 collectively – enough to force Republicans to take them seriously.

The campaign-donation totals in this article come from the candidates’ state filings on Oct. 2. Candidates are still raising money as Saturday’s primary election nears.

Democrat Beverly Brooks Thompson is running for the open seat in the 16th Senate District against three Republicans and one Libertarian. She has raised more than $100,000 for the effort. While the amount does not match what either of her two most prominent Republican opponents, Reps. Steve Carter and Franklin Foil, have raised, it easily puts her at the top of the list of all Democrats running in Republican Senate districts this year.

Read more at KALB.com.

Published: October 9, 2019

By: Ben Baumgardner, Catherine Hunt, Lara Nicholson and Katie Peppo, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE—While the gubernatorial campaign has been the center of attention, several legislative races in Louisiana are gaining momentum as the October 12 primary approaches.

Republicans are within striking distance of a supermajority – holding at least two-thirds of the seats — in each chamber of the state Legislature. Getting there, however, could require beating incumbents, a rare accomplishment in Louisiana elections.

Incumbent legislators have won over 90% of their elections during the past two decades, according to LSU Public Policy Research Lab Director Dr. Michael Henderson. Typically, incumbents leave office only when they reach their term limit or choose to resign.

On the other hand, legislative elections are increasingly decided on a partisan basis. Republicans now hold seats in 85 of the 101 Louisiana House and Senate districts that President Donald Trump carried in 2016, while Democrats hold 41of the 43 House and Senate districts that Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton carried.

Republicans are challenging four of the six Democratic or independent incumbents in districts Trump carried. By contrast, Republicans are challenging only three of the 26 incumbent Democrats in districts Clinton carried.

So the races in which Republicans are challenging Democratic incumbents pit partisanship versus incumbency in what promise to be interesting tests of which means more to voters now.

Not surprisingly, then, the incumbents in these races are downplaying their party affiliations.

In Trump-friendly northwest Louisiana, incumbent Sen. John Milkovich, D-Shreveport, faces a strong Republican challenge in Senate District 38 from businessman Barry Milligan.

“Politicians, PACs and special interests are spending thousands of dollars against us because I am independent,” said Milkovich, one of the most conservative Democrats in the Legislature. “I didn’t take orders from them, and I didn’t ask permission from them on how to vote.”

Read more at Bossier Press-Tribune.

(Photo Credit: Aurianna Cordero/Louisiana State University)

Published: September 20, 2019

By: Raymond Constantino and Katherine Manuel, The Reveille

BATON ROUGE—Three candidates for governor clashed over taxes and Medicaid in their first debate Thursday night but largely agreed on abortion restrictions, gun policies, the dangers of e-cigarettes and the value of the TOPS scholarship program.

The debate, which took place at LSU, featured Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards and his Republican opponents, businessman Eddie Rispone and U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham.

One of the most contentious sequences centered on Louisiana’s shift from a budget deficit to a budget surplus since Edwards was elected in 2015 and whether the candidates would now cut taxes.

Edwards pointed to the state’s investment in education, including a recent pay raise for K-12 teachers and an end to the cuts in college budgets that were common under his predecessor, Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal.

“What we don’t want to do is go back to cutting higher education,” Edwards said.

Abraham said he would “absolutely” cut taxes if he wins because Louisiana has one of the highest sales tax rates in the country. Rispone also said he would cut taxes because he believes Louisiana has a spending problem.

Candidates were then asked if they would support allowing local governments to decide whether to give tax breaks to corporations to create jobs.

Edwards noted that smaller municipalities within the state needed seats at the table. Abraham attacked Edwards, claiming his policies caused small companies to leave Louisiana.

Polls show that Edwards, the only Democratic governor in the Deep South, is leading the race, while Abraham and Rispone are competing to get in a runoff with him. Rispone recently attacked Abraham in television ads. But during the debate, both focused on their differences with Edwards rather than with one other.

Read more at the Bossier Press-Tribune.

Published: June 7, 2019

By: Tryfon Boukouvidis, LSU Manship School News Service

BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana House on Thursday unanimously approved the $30 billion state operating budget for next year, which aligned with Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards’ agenda for $1,000 teacher and $500 support staff pay raises and a contested $39 million block grant for public school districts.

The Legislature’s budget deal also included boosts to higher education spending and early childhood education after years of standstill funding and cuts to these agencies and programs. It was the first significant statewide pay raise for teachers in a decade.

The budget will take effect on July 1, 2019.

This legislative session, which ended on Thursday, marked a sharp contrast with previous sessions that ignited partisan disagreements over deep cuts across state agencies as lawmakers were trying to address recurring budget crises.

The partisan dispute ended last year when the governor and Republican House leaders settled on a compromise to extend the state sales tax by .45 of a cent until 2025 to stabilize the budget.

This year, legislators used part of the revenue brought by the sales tax extension to increase funding across state agencies, including the teacher pay raises.

The 2019-2020 budget includes full funding for the popular TOPS scholarships and an extra $20 million for early childhood education, as well as boosts for higher education and the Department of Corrections.

The biggest budget contention was between the governor and House Republican leaders, spurred by House Appropriations Committee chairman Rep. Cameron Henry, R-Metairie, around the teacher pay raises and across-the-board funding for school districts.

House Republican leaders had sent a budget proposal to the Senate which included $1,200 pay raises for teachers and $600 raises for support workers, but not the $39 million block grant to school districts that the governor and the state’s education board sought.

But GOP lawmakers in the House Education Committee last week concurred with the governor’s pay raise rates and the inclusion of the block grant in next year’s budget.

In the Senate budget debate last week, Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, D-New Orleans, objected to the budget. She said the budget was immoral because it did not include funding to support women and children, who would be affected by the state’s ‘fetal heartbeat’ six-week abortion ban passed earlier that week.

Read more at Bossier Press-Tribune.