Despite that area mayors have asked him set the record straight, by this morning Billy Nungesser had yet to pull down a post from his facebook page with inaccurate information concerning area mayoral endorsements of him.
Despite that area mayors have asked him to set the record straight, by this morning Billy Nungesser had yet to pull down a post from his facebook page with inaccurate information concerning area mayoral endorsements of him.
His spokeswoman, Amy Jones, has yet to follow through on her word that she would be back in touch with this paper to explain the mix-up.
"It's clearly not an honest mistake," says Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, whom Nungesser is challenging for the second highest seat in the state. Nungesser is president of Plaquemines Parish.
Tuesday at 12:14 p.m. The Independent received an email from Nungesser's campaign claiming that 15 mayors from communities throughout Acadiana and the Louisiana Gulf Coast had come together for breakfast at Café Des Amis in Breaux Bridge to endorse the Plaquemines Parish president for lieutenant governor. Within hours of posting the story, we started getting calls from local mayors, including Glenn Brasseaux of Carencro, Hilda Curry of New Iberia, Jack Dale Delhomme of Breaux Bridge and later Billy D'Aquilla of St. Francisville. All four said they had only been asked to hear Nungesser speak and maintain there was no mention of an endorsement.
"It's another example of misrepresentation and deceitful action," Dardenne says. "They were lured there under the pretense to meet Billy."
On Wednesday, Dardenne issued his own list of 23 mayors' endorsements (at least one endorsement touted by Nungesser, D'Aquilla, is now on Dardenne's list):
Mayor Barney Arceneaux, Gonzales.
Mayor Clarence Beebe, Hornbeck.
Mayor Mike Cooper, Covington.
Mayor Billy D'Aquila, St. Francisville.
Mayor Jimmy Durbin, Denham Springs.
Mayor Clarence Fields, Pineville.
Mayor Mayson Foster, Hammond.
Mayor Cedric Glover, Shreveport.
Mayor Lawrence Henagan, DeQuincy.
Mayor Jackie Johnson, Winnsboro.
Mayor Burke Jones, Greensburg.
Mayor Jamie Mayo, Monroe.
Mayor Wayne McCullen, Natchitoches.
Mayor Glen McGlothin, Ferriday.
Mayor Robert Myer, New Roads.
Mayor Tommy O'Con, Robeline.
Mayor Betty Olive, Bastrop.
Mayor Ron Roberts, DeRidder.
Mayor Bill Robertson, Minden.
Mayor Robert Rose, Leesville.
Mayor Jacques Roy, Alexandria.
Since The Independent posted the story Tuesday, the only apology of sorts came via a tersely worded statement from Mayor David Camardelle of Grand Isle, who had invited most of the mayors to Tuesday's gathering. "I organized this morning's breakfast with Billy Nungesser. Some of the mayors were simply there to meet Billy. These elected officials were not identified to the campaign. It was a simple misunderstanding," Camardelle wrote.
Dardenne also has received support from The Shreveport Times, The Monroe News-Star, The Times-Picayune, Gambit, Baton Rouge Business Report, The Daily Comet and The Courier of Houma. He also earned the endorsement from the Alliance for Good Government, the National Rifle Association, the Baton Rouge Area Chamber's FuturePAC and several other industry and political groups.
View Nungesser's facebook page here; this morning the post was less than half way down the first page.