Almost half the members of the state Legislature were “re-elected” last week at the close of qualifying because they did such a great job over the last four years no one signed up to challenge them.
According to several media reports, 20 of 39 senators and 49 of 105 representatives skated back into office without opposition when no one stepped forward to challenge them during last week’s three-day qualifying period. The secretary of state’s office marks them as “elected unopposed” so their names won’t even be on the Oct. 24 ballot.
Secretary of State Tom Schedler, speaking to The Advocate, called the paucity of candidates an “astounding figure.”
But maybe there’s more to this than civic apathy — namely the crappy state of affairs in Baton Rouge after eight smoke-and-mirrors budgets by former Gov. Bobby Jindal led to withering cuts to higher education and health care and perennial recurring budget gaps closed by one-time money. Whoever is elected governor this fall will be in tough straits with those solons foolhardy enough to seek the masochism of serving in the Louisiana Legislature.
As the Council for a Better Louisiana’s Barry Erwin put it in the same Advocate article, “It’s just not a pleasant place to be right now.”
In the Acadiana delegation, “congratulations” go to Sens. Fred Mills and Jonathan Perry and to Reps. Stuart Bishop, Taylor Barras and Jack Montoucet, all of whom hold the distinction of being elected unopposed.