Trump CD 5 Miguez endorsement prompts questions

Republican Pres. Donald Trump’s endorsement of GOP state Sen. Blake Miguez to succeed Republican Rep. Julia Letlow in Louisiana’s Fifth Congressional District leaves more questions than the one answered with it.

That one being, Miguez now should be rated the favorite to win. A huge war chest he transferred from his attempted Senate campaign when he shucked that upon the entrance of Letlow into that contest – after her receiving explicit encouragement from Trump – certainly put him up there as a big contender, but questions lingered because Miguez is domiciled (close to New Iberia) nowhere near the district. He had no particular history in the district save attending Louisiana State University and his legislative service of the past several years, so it was uncertain how district voters might receive that, especially those in its northern reaches some 300 miles from where he lives. As well, having abandoned the Senate contest and shifting gears so suddenly might make him look too opportunistic, if not desperate, to secure a seat in Washington, D.C. that may not play well with voters.

Trump’s unexpected endorsement changes those dynamics well into his favor. Given the president’s popularity in the district, which goes from moderately high in its southern portion to extremely high in its north, that does carry a lot of weight and if advertised – and it will be with all the resources Miguez can draw to bear – can override concerns about his alien presence in the district. Opponents can raise that argument, but if Trump says it’s all right regardless, that’s  going to good enough for a lot of Republicans – and that’s all that’s needed, since the winner of the GOP primary will win the general election.

Not so crazy Miguez entry hikes CD 5 craziness

The craziness of Louisiana’s Fifth Congressional District got taken up a notch when Republican state Sen. Blake Miguez bailed on the state’s Senate contest to toss his hat – a considerable distance since his domicile is well out of the district – into the ring of this race, an idea which actually isn’t so crazy.

The base craziness now elevated comes from the district itself being on life support, assuredly dismembered in large part for 2028 elections after the U.S. Supreme Court (in a delayed, Solomonic response to not upset too abruptly maps from many states prior to this year’s tilts) will decide the current state map is unconstitutional. The inevitability opened the floodgates for candidates wanting to get in on the ground floor for a congressional career after its incumbent GOP Rep. Julia Letlow made a surprise bid for the Senate, and apparently, among others, chased Miguez from that race.

Because of the bizarre shape of the district that starts in the Florida parishes, heads west to part of Baton Rouge, then swings north up the Mississippi River to clip Alexandria and concludes by grabbing a piece of Monroe on the way to the Arkansas line, a wide range of candidates have expressed they will and seem poised to run. As Scott McKay observes, some candidates involved have tenuous connections to the district, which constitutionally is not a hindrance in qualifying for the contest, but does create chances for their opponents to highlight their candidacies as more disconnected to the district if not blatantly opportunistic.

Cassidy made desperate after Senate race shakeup

Just like that, Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy now is odds-on to miss the party preference primary nomination for his office and may lead him to consider doing the previously unthinkable.

Which isn’t to drop out. Up to this week, Cassidy increasingly had buffeted storms in his quest for reelection later this year as GOP quality challenger after quality challenger entered the contest. Up until the middle of last month, the multiplicity of such challengers had put him in a position with his projected support so eroded that he would have to endure a runoff for the nod which he seemed likely to lose, but regardless was the most likely to survive to it.

Then Republican Rep. Julia Letlow made a surprising entrance into the race after GOP Pres. Donald Trump endorsed her out of the blue. That by itself began to threaten Cassidy’s place in the runoff, as Letlow would take more votes from him that the other more-conservative competitors, all the more particularly since Cassidy had made an enemy of Trump by voting to convict him of half-baked impeachment charges between Trump’s terms.

Costs, benefits calculus warrants CCS skepticism

What those promoting carbon capture and sequestration cannot either understand or admit to is, even if they can make claims about safety and economic development, that the overall cost to society of subsidizing their efforts exceeds benefits conveyed to society, justifying local populations in rejecting their entreaties.

Increasingly, Louisianans express alarm at the idea of sequestering carbon near or under their back yards. The latest flashpoint comes in Ascension Parish, where unusual bedfellows find themselves moving together to oppose a CCS project called River Parish Sequestration. It is a subsidiary of a firm called Blue Sky Infrastructure managed by Blackstone, a private investment firm comprised of hedge funds.

Part of the opposition comes from the usual leftist suspects who decry any industrial expansion as forfeiting “environmental justice.” But this anti-intellectual screed is joined by the growing conservative opposition in many parts of the state objecting to CCS over issues of safety and property rights, both real and pecuniary.

Constitutional convention bill meritorious

An audacious plan to redo Louisiana’s Constitution might just succeed within the next two years.

While widely agreed it should happen, constitutional convention implementation has foundered over recent years on charges it would be too rushed, too narrow or too broad, and too exclusive of citizens. Which is why HB 4 by Republican state Rep. Dixon McMakin should draw serious consideration.

The bill would establish a rolling convention, setting up subcommittees to review each of the overstuffed document’s 14 sections and an executive committee to oversee. Presumably, subcommittees, required to meet at least monthly, would do so over starting in early 2027 for the next nine months or so, followed by a decision on changes by all 93 delegates. The product would be available for voter approval at the 2027 general election. Any parts of the current Constitution not included in the end product would revert to statute.