Even though the New Year has yet to start, the 2015 race for Lafayette City-Parish President is on.
Joel Robideaux
So far, two candidates have emerged to run for the post being vacated by the term-limited Joey Durel: state Rep. Joel Robideaux and Durel’s Chief Administrative Officer Dee Stanley.
And according to a report by KATC TV3, both candidates are already putting together their war chests for the coming race. From KATC:
Already the race is commanding big donations. Robideaux more than doubled his campaign war chest, raising $193,000 on a single night at a December 2 fundraiser.
“I was really happy with the result and it says that there is a lot of support out there for me,” said Robideaux.
According to the latest campaign finance reports, Robideaux has at least $372,063 on hand compared to Stanley’s $54,028. Stanley began accepting campaign contributions in 2012 and raised $33,550 in 2013.
“I haven’t held a [formal] fundraiser yet, so the money that I’ve raised has been at the grassroots level with people who’ve said ‘I want to support a candidacy, are you in?’ — and I’ve been genuine and told them ‘yeah,’” said Stanley.
Although he has far less cash on hand, Stanley has also never run for public office, while Robideaux is a 12-year veteran of the Louisiana House of Representatives. Before his recent fundraiser, only 25% of Robideaux’s contributions came from Lafayette parish, compared to 70% for Stanley.
Dee Stanley
“One of the things you see is that Joel Robideaux’s contributions come from around the state,” said Dr. Pearson Cross, KATC’s political analyst. “I think you’ll see as the race continues and fundraising continues that the majority of the cash is going to come from Lafayette parish sources, so I think the advantage that Joel Robideaux has at the beginning will perhaps be muted somewhat as the campaign goes on.”
