If as a political candidate have little in the way of campaign resources commensurate to the office you seek, a shot of free publicity surely can’t hurt – unless it threatens to make you appear to be a crank.
That’s the situation in which Republican Senate challenger Sammy Wyatt finds himself. Next to no one in the state probably paid attention to his entry into the contest to knock off GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy, which he formally announced in mid-March. Wyatt, from Shreveport originally who worked in local law enforcement mainly in Bossier City and then in security in the private sector before decamping for graduate study at Louisiana State University (after a failed run for Bossier City Marshal), returned to serve currently as Chief Compliance Officer and Investigation Officer for Louisiana State University Health-Shreveport, a senior administrative position, although in 2022 he did apply unsuccessfully for the police chief’s position in Shreveport.
Wyatt positions himself as a consistently ideological conservative in line with the agenda of Republican Pres. Donald Trump. It’s unknown how much financial support his campaign has picked up, since he first filed with the Federal Election Commission on Apr. 1, the day after a quarterly report would have been required with the next due at the end of the month, but likely it is very little.
Up to this point, his candidacy has been greeted with a yawn because of the presence of GOP Treas. John Fleming in the race. Fleming spent eight years in Congress and four years working in the Trump Administration, plus he has a formidable bankroll through the end of March. He’s raised almost $300,000 but also lent himself over $2 million, demonstrating guaranteed competitiveness. And, his reputation in government has established him as a consistent conservative who, in some ways, was stumping for Trump’s agenda before Trump was first elected.
And it’s becoming more likely that he will be the only significant challenger to Cassidy under the renewed closed primary system, with that election occurring next spring. While a number of names have been bandied about, one serious challenger, Republican Rep. Clay Higgins, has passed on the race, and others haven’t yet entered, with the clock at just over nine months to go meaning unless they jump in about now it’s rather late to commit and expect to win.
Plus, in polling Higgins did prior to his deferral, Fleming polls strongly against Cassidy. In a March sampling, Fleming would win outright in a two-up primary with Cassidy with 51 percent to Cassidy’s 33 percent. With these dynamics, there’s little room for an unknown with likely next to no resources to be more than a radar blip, much less run competitively.
In other words, why vote for Wyatt, who differs little from Fleming on the issues, doesn’t have Fleming’s experience and connections in government, and apparently will have little financial support to be taken seriously? (There’s also a question about the Ph.D. he says he earned at LSU at the end of 2017 which he states is in “Human Resource Education,” as a search of LSU’s website and in particular its graduate, business, and human sciences and education colleges show there is no such doctoral degree offered, although it is possible that either the degree was renamed possibly to a degree currently offered through the School of Leadership and Human Resource Development called a Ph.D. in Leadership and Human Resource Development or that the degree was discontinued after the end of 2017.)
But now Wyatt is suddenly in the news again. The far-left news website Louisiana Illuminator dug up complaints against the LSU Board of Supervisor’s Esperanza Moran, appointed last year by GOP Gov. Jeff Landry, where she allegedly jawboned LSU Health-Shreveport personnel to make a house call to the point of threatening their jobs. Moran is believed to have been a prime mover behind recent leadership changes at the state hospital now under private management, including one individual she allegedly berated. After a Senate panel vetted her nomination last month, before the current legislative session adjourns it will decide whether to confirm her nomination (nominees may serve without confirmation through the next regular legislative session).
Whistleblower complaints with the state were filed. But Wyatt went further. He also filed one with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which is unusual as Moran has no authority over him; only the entire board can make decisions about administrators and then formally only over Wyatt’s boss. Plus, half a year ago he wrote a letter directly to Landry, writing that her alleged actions were damaging to his personal and professional reputation, disrupting his ability to do his job, and injurious to LSU Health-Shreveport’s public trust. Apparently, Landry’s office never responded.
Most intriguingly, the letter as distributed through a public records request hinted that Wyatt had launched his own investigation seemingly using state resources into Moran and her friends, claiming as well to have made referrals to the Federal Bureau of Investigation and local law enforcement and threatening more legal action. All of this apparently took place before he announced his Senate bid.
Regardless of the veracity of the supposed incident, Wyatt’s reaction may strike potential voters in a number of ways not exactly helpful to support his candidacy – overreactive, whiny, or plain bizarre. So, it looks like we’ll get a field test of the old saw that “any publicity is good publicity” as Wyatt rolls out his long shot candidacy.
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