2015 LA Governor's race: on Government Reform


Jay Dardenne: Tighten disclosure rules for lobbyists, to limit influence

There is simply too much money being spent to influence lawmakers. Since 2009, lobbyists have spent more than $3 million entertaining legislators and executive branch employees. However, only 21% of the lobbyist filings name the individual on whom the money was spent. There will always be money in politics--it is a fact of life. But we should do more to ensure that money doesn't have a corrupting influence. As Governor, I will:
  1. Force lobbyists to identify individual lawmakers or government employees who they spend money entertaining.
  2. End the practice of candidates and officeholders using campaign contributions for personal perks.
  3. Tighten the rules allowing communication and coordination between candidates, their campaigns, and Super PACs that support them.
  4. Stop the revolving door between government and lobbyists by expanding lobbying prohibitions.
  5. Ban state employees from immediately going to work for companies that receive state contracts.
Source: 2015 Louisiana Governor's campaign website JayDardenne.com Sep 9, 2015

David Vitter: Led and won the fight for state term limits

As a state legislator, David led the fight for term limits against great odds--and won. He filed ethics complaints against illegal good ole boy deals--and won. And he cut wasteful spending and kept violent criminals in jail longer.
Source: 2015 Louisiana Governor campaign website, DavidVitter.com Aug 11, 2015

David Vitter: Term limits instead of automatic pay raises for Congress

Vitter's well-publicized efforts to pass bills to block automatic cost of living congressional pay increases, while never adopted, may have contributed to Congressional votes over each of the last six years to forego the pay hikes. His persistent bills to set term limits for members of Congress never went anywhere, unlike when he won a term limit constitutional amendment, but angered some colleagues, just as they did in the Louisiana Legislature.
Source: Times-Picayune coverage of 2015 Louisiana Gubernatorial race May 29, 2015

Jay Dardenne: Don't bring dysfunctional Washington politics to Louisiana

Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne is making an issue of Sen. David Vitter's "ineffective" congressional record. Dardenne insists that Louisiana voters don't like the "dysfunction," in Washington and that Vitter has been a major contributor to the partisan divisions that often paralyze Congress: "You have to wonder how effective he is going to be as governor when he couldn't get much done when he served in the State Legislature, in the House of Representatives and in the United States Senate," Dardenne said. "We don't want to bring Washington politics to Louisiana."

Vitter's spokesman said his boss is anything but ineffective, working with Democrats & fellow Republicans to move legislation important to the nation and the state of Louisiana. He points to the Water Resources and Development Act, with key hurricane protection; the chemical safety bill; a long-term highway funding bill; and a bill barring the federal government from coercing or incentivizing states to adopt Common Core.

Source: Times-Picayune coverage of 2015 Louisiana Gubernatorial race May 29, 2015

  • The above quotations are from 2015 Louisiana Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
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Candidates and political leaders on Government Reform:

Retired Senate as of Jan. 2015:
GA:Chambliss(R)
IA:Harkin(D)
MI:Levin(D)
MT:Baucus(D)
NE:Johanns(R)
OK:Coburn(R)
SD:Johnson(D)
WV:Rockefeller(D)

Resigned from 113th House:
AL-1:Jo Bonner(R)
FL-19:Trey Radel(R)
LA-5:Rod Alexander(R)
MA-5:Ed Markey(D)
MO-9:Jo Ann Emerson(R)
NC-12:Melvin Watt(D)
SC-1:Tim Scott(R) 		Retired House to run for Senate or Governor:
AR-4:Tom Cotton(R)
GA-1:Jack Kingston(R)
GA-10:Paul Broun(R)
GA-11:Phil Gingrey(R)
HI-1:Colleen Hanabusa(D)
IA-1:Bruce Braley(D)
LA-6:Bill Cassidy(R)
ME-2:Mike Michaud(D)
MI-14:Gary Peters(D)
MT-0:Steve Daines(R)
OK-5:James Lankford(R)
PA-13:Allyson Schwartz(D)
TX-36:Steve Stockman(R)
WV-2:Shelley Capito(R) 		Retired House as of Jan. 2015:
AL-6:Spencer Bachus(R)
AR-2:Tim Griffin(R)
CA-11:George Miller(D)
CA-25:Howard McKeon(R)
CA-33:Henry Waxman(D)
CA-45:John Campbell(R)
IA-3:Tom Latham(R)
MN-6:Michele Bachmann(R)
NC-6:Howard Coble(R)
NC-7:Mike McIntyre(D)
NJ-3:Jon Runyan(R)
NY-4:Carolyn McCarthy(D)
NY-21:Bill Owens(D)
PA-6:Jim Gerlach(R)
UT-4:Jim Matheson(D)
VA-8:Jim Moran(D)
VA-10:Frank Wolf(R)
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Page last updated: Dec 07, 2018