1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,800 Hello everybody! 2 00:00:20,800 --> 00:00:27,040 My name is Frank Driscoll and welcome to Driscoll's Election Dissection, your election analysis 3 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:28,680 for across the circus. 4 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:32,080 I hope you're all doing well today, wherever you are. 5 00:00:32,080 --> 00:00:36,680 If you listened to our last show, our very first show, you'll notice that we looked at 6 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:43,480 two specific primary elections for two congressional special elections, one in Rhode Island, the 7 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:44,480 other in Utah. 8 00:00:44,480 --> 00:00:50,080 Well, in Rhode Island, Gabe Amow ended up winning that election, receiving about 32% 9 00:00:50,080 --> 00:00:55,920 of the vote and called right on election night, so just enough to not outlast any other candidate. 10 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:59,320 So he'll be the Democratic nominee in the Rhode Island election. 11 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:06,960 And in Utah was a much closer race and between Celeste Malloy and Becky Edwards for the second 12 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:11,480 district's Republican primary, it was back and forth on election night, but it wasn't 13 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:17,360 until a couple days after when Celeste Malloy received enough votes to call the primary 14 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:18,900 election in her favor. 15 00:01:18,900 --> 00:01:24,400 So Celeste Malloy will be the Republican candidate in Utah's District 2 election on November 16 00:01:24,400 --> 00:01:25,400 21st. 17 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:29,960 Now, we're not going to be talking about those two elections in the future because they're 18 00:01:29,960 --> 00:01:35,360 both seen pretty leaned toward their Republican and Democratic counterparts. 19 00:01:35,360 --> 00:01:39,000 And it doesn't really make for an eventful election there. 20 00:01:39,000 --> 00:01:46,080 But today we talk about the first gubernatorial election of this year so far, although the 21 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,320 two other ones have had their primaries already. 22 00:01:48,320 --> 00:01:52,880 This one is technically a primary, but could also be the general, which is funny how that 23 00:01:52,880 --> 00:01:55,120 system works in this particular state. 24 00:01:55,120 --> 00:01:56,920 So today we're headed to the bayou. 25 00:01:56,920 --> 00:02:03,120 We're going to Louisiana and talking about its gubernatorial primary election set for 26 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,160 Saturday, October 14th. 27 00:02:05,160 --> 00:02:06,960 An election on a Saturday. 28 00:02:06,960 --> 00:02:09,400 Wow, I guess that should bring people out to vote. 29 00:02:09,400 --> 00:02:10,760 I would assume so. 30 00:02:10,760 --> 00:02:14,200 So here's what's going on down in Louisiana. 31 00:02:14,200 --> 00:02:18,000 The incumbent governor is John Bell Edwards. 32 00:02:18,000 --> 00:02:22,880 He's a Democrat, was elected in 2015 and reelected in 2019. 33 00:02:22,880 --> 00:02:25,320 And he is a Democrat in a red state. 34 00:02:25,320 --> 00:02:31,720 However, he has been able to appeal to Louisiana's Republican base as he's one of the only top 35 00:02:31,720 --> 00:02:37,000 named Democrats who's anti-abortion along with other conservative values. 36 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:40,960 So he's been able to cross appeal to both sides of the electorate. 37 00:02:40,960 --> 00:02:45,520 Now, Governor Edwards is term limited and cannot run for reelection this year. 38 00:02:45,520 --> 00:02:48,160 And that brings an open primary for this. 39 00:02:48,160 --> 00:02:53,600 Now, Louisiana has a different system of electing their governor than most states do. 40 00:02:53,600 --> 00:02:59,600 For example, in the primary election, all of the candidates appear on one ballot. 41 00:02:59,600 --> 00:03:01,680 And by all, I mean all. 42 00:03:01,680 --> 00:03:05,140 Republican, Democrat, Independent, Third Party, whatever. 43 00:03:05,140 --> 00:03:07,000 They all appear on the same ballot. 44 00:03:07,000 --> 00:03:11,080 Everybody gets the same ballot and you could vote for whomever the heck you want. 45 00:03:11,080 --> 00:03:13,580 It doesn't matter if you're a registered party voter. 46 00:03:13,580 --> 00:03:15,440 You can vote for the other party if you want to. 47 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:16,960 Nobody's going to stop you. 48 00:03:16,960 --> 00:03:23,120 Now, if a candidate receives more than 50% of the vote in the primary election, they 49 00:03:23,120 --> 00:03:24,120 win. 50 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,440 They win the governor's seat just like that. 51 00:03:27,440 --> 00:03:33,760 If not, however, then the two candidates with the most votes will move on to a runoff election 52 00:03:33,760 --> 00:03:38,000 or as they like to call it, the general election scheduled to be held on November 18th. 53 00:03:38,000 --> 00:03:41,440 Now, if you know a lot about elections around the world and you're probably thinking to 54 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:44,160 yourself, oh, hey, that's how France elects their president. 55 00:03:44,160 --> 00:03:45,320 Well, you'd be right. 56 00:03:45,320 --> 00:03:47,480 That's the standard two round system. 57 00:03:47,480 --> 00:03:50,120 And Louisiana is the only state that really does it like that. 58 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:54,160 Like California and Washington are somewhat similar, but they don't have a majority finisher 59 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:55,160 per se. 60 00:03:55,160 --> 00:04:03,040 So, in this election, the Republican Party of Louisiana really, really wants the governor's 61 00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:04,040 seat back. 62 00:04:04,040 --> 00:04:11,360 Now, Louisiana already has control of both houses in the state legislature and they're 63 00:04:11,360 --> 00:04:15,720 destined to hang on to those, which elections also occur on the October 14th and November 64 00:04:15,720 --> 00:04:16,720 18th. 65 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:19,800 They elect the legislators the exact same way with the runoff system. 66 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:22,880 And it seems very likely that they're going to hold both seats because their margins 67 00:04:22,880 --> 00:04:23,880 are pretty high. 68 00:04:23,880 --> 00:04:26,920 So, the Republicans want a trifecta here. 69 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:30,320 And given the state's red lean, they might be able to do that. 70 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:36,720 So, last year, the first candidate to enter the race was Jeff Landry, who was also Louisiana's 71 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:37,720 attorney general. 72 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:43,880 Now, the Louisiana Republican Party knew that Donald Trump was a good confidant of Jeff 73 00:04:43,880 --> 00:04:44,880 Landry. 74 00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:48,160 So, they figured we might as well, you know, take what we can here. 75 00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:53,200 So, they had a meeting over Zoom, the party elite, and they officially endorsed Jeff Landry 76 00:04:53,200 --> 00:04:54,200 for governor. 77 00:04:54,200 --> 00:04:59,360 Now, this actually alienated a lot of Republicans throughout the state, including legislators, 78 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:04,440 who found it very odd that they didn't have a say in that vote and the vote was behind 79 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:05,440 closed doors. 80 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:10,000 So, as a result, some more Republicans throughout the state decided to throw their hat in the 81 00:05:10,000 --> 00:05:11,000 ring. 82 00:05:11,000 --> 00:05:15,640 They include state Senator Sharon Hewitt, state treasurer John Schroeder, and former 83 00:05:15,640 --> 00:05:19,080 state chamber CEO Steven Wakespeck. 84 00:05:19,080 --> 00:05:23,720 Now, unfortunately, the other three have not been able to gain any ground because despite 85 00:05:23,720 --> 00:05:29,360 the controversy of how the state Republican Party endorsed Jeff Landry so early, not a 86 00:05:29,360 --> 00:05:32,600 lot of Republican voters really knew about that. 87 00:05:32,600 --> 00:05:34,160 So, they didn't really care. 88 00:05:34,160 --> 00:05:37,760 So, Jeff Landry is the front runner on the Republican side. 89 00:05:37,760 --> 00:05:42,480 And with an endorsement from Donald Trump, as well as nearly all of Louisiana's congressional 90 00:05:42,480 --> 00:05:47,080 delegation, including House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, who, as of this taping, could 91 00:05:47,080 --> 00:05:53,000 possibly also be our next House Speaker, except for Louisiana's 6th district representative 92 00:05:53,000 --> 00:05:56,520 Garrett Graves, who endorsed Steven Wakespeck. 93 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:02,000 Believe it or not, Mr. Wakespeck has gotten a bit of momentum in the polls. 94 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,920 His numbers going up a bit, but I don't know if it's going to be enough to make the runoff 95 00:06:05,920 --> 00:06:06,920 election. 96 00:06:06,920 --> 00:06:12,160 And speaking of which, although Jeff Landry is leading in polls, the guy right behind 97 00:06:12,160 --> 00:06:17,080 him is the only major Democratic candidate in the race. 98 00:06:17,080 --> 00:06:22,240 Now, the Louisiana Democratic Party knows that it's going to be an uphill battle, losing 99 00:06:22,240 --> 00:06:26,880 Governor Edwards, who they believe was a real electable candidate throughout the state. 100 00:06:26,880 --> 00:06:31,040 So, they want to find someone with that appeal and who can possibly beat a man like Jeff 101 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:32,040 Landry. 102 00:06:32,040 --> 00:06:38,040 So, there's only one major Democratic candidate in the race, and that is former State Transportation 103 00:06:38,040 --> 00:06:39,920 Secretary Sean Wilson. 104 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:46,360 Now, Sean Wilson has the endorsement of Governor Edwards, as well as Representative Troy Carter, 105 00:06:46,360 --> 00:06:52,620 the only Democrat in Louisiana's House delegation, along with other members of the state legislature 106 00:06:52,620 --> 00:06:58,160 who are Democrats, and of course, the Louisiana Democratic Party is going all out for him. 107 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:04,280 And polls have showed that it is very likely going to be Landry and Wilson in the top two. 108 00:07:04,280 --> 00:07:09,320 But Landry doesn't seem to have enough to get a majority. 109 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:12,800 That could be thanks to the other Republican candidates in the race or what. 110 00:07:12,800 --> 00:07:17,280 The highest he's been polling is 40%, and that was a poll from last month. 111 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:20,240 This poll was from Mason Dixon. 112 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,760 And despite that, there is about 15% of undecided voters in the poll. 113 00:07:24,760 --> 00:07:27,760 So, a lot can change in between them. 114 00:07:27,760 --> 00:07:33,560 And the Cook Political Report has this race as a lean Republican, which means there is 115 00:07:33,560 --> 00:07:38,360 a good chance that the scale would tip to elect a Republican governor. 116 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:43,120 But if given the right momentum, the Democrats could possibly keep it. 117 00:07:43,120 --> 00:07:47,480 So we're very likely going to be heading to a runoff on November 18th. 118 00:07:47,480 --> 00:07:53,920 Now, of course, I can't predict that I'm no Nostradamus, but that seems to be the case 119 00:07:53,920 --> 00:07:56,320 based on the cards we're dealt here. 120 00:07:56,320 --> 00:07:59,760 And that election might be closer than we think. 121 00:07:59,760 --> 00:08:04,840 You know, it could depend on how the two candidates go forward with their campaigns. 122 00:08:04,840 --> 00:08:08,480 So we're likely going to talk about it before November 18th. 123 00:08:08,480 --> 00:08:12,640 And I just want to let everyone know that if you are a registered voter in Louisiana, 124 00:08:12,640 --> 00:08:17,080 I don't care who you vote for, but I do care that you vote. 125 00:08:17,080 --> 00:08:18,080 So please do. 126 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,840 Thank you all for listening to Driscoll's Election Dissection. 127 00:08:20,840 --> 00:08:25,760 If you'd like to learn more about the show, go online to algidproductions.com slash across 128 00:08:25,760 --> 00:08:30,480 the circus and be sure to listen to us on any podcasting forum you like. 129 00:08:30,480 --> 00:08:57,720 Thank you all for listening, and I'll see you all very soon. 130 00:08:57,720 --> 00:10:21,760 Algid Productions LLC Outro. 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