Perkins campaign crippled regardless of outcome

Regardless of what happens in the next week or so, the Shreveport Democrat Mayor Adrian Perkins campaign has suffered perhaps a fatal blow with his disqualification from his reelection bid.

That attempt can come back from the grave as Perkins has appealed the decision by Republican 1^st District Judge Brady O’Callaghan to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. He shouldn’t hold his breath on this, however, as that court only months ago ruled in a similar case to disqualify a candidate who, like Perkins, made a false statement on his filing when he failed to indicate his declared homestead address also was where he was registered to vote. Perkins owns a homestead but his registration as of when he qualified remained at the same address he has had since he first registered to vote coming out of high school.

O’Callaghan drew upon this recent precedent, where the court noted the law demanded accuracy and that inaccuracy meant disqualification. Yet a noticeable difference does exist between the cases, in that in the earlier case the inaccuracy also hid the fact that the candidate did not reside in the jurisdiction of the office contested when such candidates are required to have domicile in it while Perkins at both addresses still would have domicile within Shreveport.

Data confirm wages of closing LA schools

The wages of one of Democrat Gov. John Bel Edwards’ Wuhan coronavirus pandemic policies, amplified by sympathetic school districts and a hesitant state school authority, reverberate still, and for some children negatively for the rest of their lives.

Recently, the state Department of Education released test score results for the past school year. The news was cautiously good, with minor increases mostly across the board for districts and schools. Unfortunately, these gains didn’t quite balance the losses encountered in the previous year, leaving on the whole student achievement behind where it was for academic year 2020.

LEAP test data clearly showed how curricula delivery based on in-person instruction outperformed that which was entirely virtual. In AY 2021, for grades 3-8, the rate of students who scored at the second-highest Mastery or above level on ELA and Math assessments was 15 percent higher for students who were in-person for the entirety of the year versus those who were virtual for the entire year. Also, students who were virtual for the entire year had an 11 percent greater rate of the lowest Unsatisfactory level scores than students who were in-person for the entire year. For AY 2022, in-person learning was a contributing factor to the progress as 98 percent of LEAP testers engaged in full-time, in-person learning, compared to 57 percent in AY 2021.

Booting Perkins boosts Tarver, maybe Fuller more

Disqualification of Democrat Shreveport Mayor Adrian Perkins from his reelection bid dramatically alters the course of the contest, boosting significantly the hopes of a couple of candidates and damaging those of another pair.

Tuesday, a state district judge ruled that Perkins under oath had provided false information in his qualification documents, that he put down an address of a residence other than his homestead that is required under law, an action which statute says disqualifies him. While he is expected to appeal the decision, a recent similar case in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals where his case would go rules similarly, and it would seem unlikely that the Louisiana Supreme Court would go against that.

In the contest, Perkins faced four major challengers: Republican former Councilor Tom Arceneaux, no party Caddo Parish Commissioner Mario Chavez, Democrat Councilor LeVette Fuller, and Democrat state Sen. Greg Tarver. Elected in 2018 running as a unknown political outsider that allowed Perkins to present himself as a blank slate, this enticed enough people to read into him being an agent of change to defeat the incumbent.

Against type, Campbell suggests good policy

Like a blind hog stumbling upon an acorn, Democrat Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell got something right about how to lower energy costs in Louisiana.

It wasn’t from his usual hot air, on display at last month’s PSC meeting when commissioners sharply queried power company officials over noticeably higher prices consumers have endured this summer. With his typical bluster amplifying his economic worldview that there’s no rising tide that lifts all boats but instead a pie that never changes in size so it’s all in how you carve it up, he criticized utility profits and executive salaries which have nothing to do with the crisis caused by the hostile signals sent and actions initiated by the Democrat Pres. Joe Biden Administration that have depressed potential fossil fuel supply, a subject about which Campbell never issues a peep.

It wasn’t from his displaying a product of his superstitious catastrophic anthropogenic global warming faith, by launching into an evidence-free rant about how too much reliance on fossil fuels rather than renewable sources supposedly drove up consumer costs – completely ignorant of or unwilling to acknowledge the facts that not only are typical natural gas prices lower than those of wind or solar, even with wasteful government subsidies attached to these, but also that the infrastructure required such as in building windmills or arrays that don’t typically last even 30 years with scare materials and the transmission lines needed to transport it, and not even considering the incredibly expensive battery capacity required, makes this form of energy far more expensive.

Inattentiveness may scuttle Perkins reelection

Coincidence? Regardless, the very real threat to Shreveport Democrat Mayor Adrian Perkins’ reelection due to illegal qualification seems to be a common outcome with recent electoral opponents of Democrat state Sen. Greg Traver.

Both qualified earlier in July, but at the deadline to challenge qualification, Perkins had a very serious one lodged against him that on its face looks more than sufficient to get him kicked off the ballot. State law requires that candidates, if they claim a homestead, must qualify at that homestead’s address, and that they have filed state income tax returns for the past five years.

For his adult life, Perkins has maintained voter registration – although he never voted until his own contest – at a southern Shreveport residence. But he filed a homestead exemption for a residence he owns in downtown Shreveport. Further, state records indicate no income tax filings for 2017 and 2018; in 2017 he appears to have lived out of state but he certainly was around in 2018 when he ran for mayor and drew a salary from an out-of-state employer, and he also likely drew disability payments from the Army in this period which would need reporting.

Cassidy, Kennedy lead on flood policy reforms

While the idea behind the National Flood Insurance Program’s Risk Rating 2.0 is sound, its implementation has left something to be desired, which some Louisiana federal elected officials want and need to improve.

In the months since the implementation of the new rules that more accurately assign risk to national flood insurance, things to date have gone as predicted. While about a fifth of Louisianans who have this – which is required if living in certain high-risk areas of if a home has a mortgage – will experience a one-time rate reduction averaging $960 (about twice the total premium for the highest level of coverage in a zone considered highly unlikely to flood), about 77 percent will see an increase as much as $20 a month in perpetuity and the other three percent will see rates higher still.

Astronomically higher, in some cases. Particularly unfortunately placed properties are in line to see rates skyrocket several times their past level over the next decade, but not immediately as with a few exceptions of up to 25 percent, increases are capped at 18 percent a year over the next decade. Still, do the math, and that means at their 18 percent maximum annually rates will triple in that time span, although a premium cap of $12,125 remains in place for now, but that can be increased, as can the rate cap after the decade (the law doesn’t have one after then).

LA legislators signaling rising conservatism

While Louisiana contests for federal and statewide offices may offer little chance for change, special legislative races and an appellate judge race could impact the Legislature significantly.

The state Senate has two positions open due to resignations. Democrat Karen Peterson vacated the 5^th District in the face of oncoming criminal charges, while Republican Rick Ward left his term-limited 17^th District post a year-plus early for an opportunity outside of government.

In terms of policy output, little will change for SD 5. It will pit two sitting representatives, Democrats Royce Duplessis and Mandie Landry, who are best described as, respectively, woke and woker. Since it’s a special election, it’s a free shot for both, but for Landry, who in her first term has promoted the farthest left legislation in the entire Legislature, it could signal her time in office is running out.

Caddo, Shreveport provide real election action

With largely, if not entirely, uncompetitive contests for statewide and federal offices clogging Louisiana ballots this fall, the most consequential electoral outcomes in the state will happen in Caddo Parish and specifically in Shreveport.

Two judicial elections – not unusually – went unopposed, featuring an incumbent and a past candidate for a similar office, as did a special election for the Caddo Parish Commission that will give interim Democrat Commissioner Steffon Jones the job. He almost defeated the now-convicted Democrat former Commissioner Lynn Cawthorne in 2019.

Unlike its counterpart across the river, School Board competition is more heated. Longtime District 1 Republican Steve Riall is stepping down and will be replaced by a Republican, either former Blanchard mayoral candidate Steve Umling or current Oil City Clerk Krisha Gayle Newsom. District 10 Republican Tony Nations is leaving office to set his sights on Shreveport City Council District E, leaving a swing district. Republican Katie McLain will try to keep it in GOP hands, while Rodney Jiles will want to increase Democrats’ majority on the Board and Jon Glover provides an independent alternative.

LA federal, state incumbents looking secure

It looks like Louisiana will be treated to a snoozer of an election for elected federal and statewide offices this fall, with all incumbents expected to prevail, for the most part quite easily.

A couple already have gained election. Fourth District Republican Rep. Mike Johnson for the first time drew no competition, nor did no party Chief Justice John Weimer the second election running for the Supreme Court. Weimer’s election, as only one of two non-Republicans on the bench, will be his last as this is the last term for which he qualifies.

Most other such candidates drew token opposition. The big question concerning the reelection attempt of Republican Sen. John Kennedy isn’t whether he will succeed, but how it will reveal the state of Louisiana’s Democrats. The only two other candidates with a chance to reach double-digit percentages of the vote, of which one surely will, are Democrats Gary Chambers and Luke Mixon.

Sleepy Bossier Board races may signal big change

As has become typical recently in Bossier Parish elections, the only real action to shake up the norm will happen for this fall’s election at its southern end – and with probable consequences for state legislative elections next year.

In Bossier City elections last year, with only two district City Council jobs contested but the northern-most providing just a last-minute candidate unable to resist Republican Councilor Vince Maggio’s assumption of the job, the only real action occurred in the southern-most District 1 where voters dumped long-time Republican incumbent Scott Irwin in favor of Republican then-School Board member Shane Cheatham, only to have Cheatham resign that triggered another competitive election to put Republican Brian Hammons in office. The pattern of somnambulant races in all but the southern reaches continued in 2022.

This year, School Board seats are the only major offices up for grabs in state and local elections for the parish and, as typical in a parish without term limits for any such office, continuity ruled qualifying. Ten incumbents will run again, with only one facing a challenge: elected last year when Cheatham had resigned the seat upon his Council election, District 11 Republican Robert Bertrand with square off again against, this time, independent Miki Royer, who ran as a Democrat last time. The change in party label likely won’t make much difference as he defeated her nearly three-to-one in the special election.