Erdey-Babcock Race In Senate District 13 Gets Rowdy
While most of the focus on Republican-vs-Republican races in Louisiana has been on the statewide races for Lt. Governor and Secretary of State, that phenomenon is hardly restricted to the up-the-ballot contests.
In the state senate there are at least four prominent intra-GOP campaigns being waged. Senate District 13, in which incumbent Dale Erdey is catching a stiff challenge from Derek Babcock, is one of them.
The district, which is centered in Livingston Parish, appears to be animated by both social conservatism and a feeling that government is too big. Because of that, Babcock appears well-placed to give Erdey a run for his money. While Erdey’s Louisiana Family Forum rating was an 89 in 2010 (it dipped to just 67 percent this year thanks to votes against tax credits for private school tuition and tax election reform), he ranked just a 50 on LABI’s ratings this year, down from an already-suspect 59 the year before. Questions about Erdey’s conservatism on both social and economic matters have rankled the district’s heavily-conservative voters, making him ripe for a challenge.
Enter the youngish Babcock, an insurance agent (as is Erdey) and father of four who serves as Vice Chairman of the Family Forum. He’s also managed to rack up LABI’s endorsement as well as that of the Associated Building Contractors, the Baton Rouge Business Report and the Baton Rouge-based Tea Party of Louisiana. Those endorsements have allowed the challenger to raise some $40,000 in the closing days of the campaign, a decent sum for a first-time candidate. That’s nothing compared to the $80,000 Erdey has raised, and Babcock is certainly being outspent in the race. But Babcock has the benefit of that voting record to work with, and he’s definitely making use of it…
The TV spot isn’t all Babcock has going for him. There’s a mail piece out that hits the senator on contracts his company has with government entities…
Erdey says he’s not going to get into the negative stuff…
Many have asked my opinion on negative campaigning. I committed early in my campaign to stay positive, advising my family and friends to stick with the facts. My record of proven leadership with proven results will ultimately bring victory to our Team Erdey. I have always been positive and optimistic and see no reason to go negative, even in the midst of unsubstantiated, derogatory and half-truth attacks. We will “positively” win.
…except his camp has also made an issue of Babcock’s only having recently changed his voter registration to reflect residency in District 13.
Erdey has the endorsement of the Baton Rouge Area Chamber’s FuturePAC, the presidents of Bass Pro Shops and the Juban Crossing development, two major economic engines within the district, the National Rifle Association and the East Baton Rouge Republican PEC.
I’m glad I found this site. I was worried there was a lack of opinionated half informed writers on the internet that are obviously biased toward one candidate over the other. Then, there you were. The rowdy part is that Babcock is an unqualified, petulant child that is all talk (no depth to his convictions) who copies and pastes a few conservative quotes and has wrapped it all up in a ginger, peter pan-like boyish cloak of having no self esteem and wanting to be somebody so bad that he decided to embellish his personal record (lie), not pay any dues and go directly for a job that he has no business trying to get. He doesn’t want what’s best for the district, he wants recognition; to feel like he’s made it. Erdey from what I’ve seen has been a sportsmanlike gentleman who hasn’t handed Babcock his behind in public as Babcock deserves. and raising the issue of his voter registration card isn’t going negative; it’s making a point that Babcock is an irresponsible fraud.
Sounds like an objective viewpoint for sure.
And I’m glad the rest of the state can finally see the ridiculous rhetoric being spewed in this race.
I hope this was as cathartic an experience for whoever wrote it as it was a humorous experience for me to read.
Mrslynette, you are so uninformed. Derek Babcock has 8 years of working with the legislature on behalf of family issues, has served as an officer of The Livingston based group CHIP fighting to get the road improvements Livingston Parish needs. He is well qualified, and will not be taking $100,000 plus a year from public bodies that he is suppose to be fighting for. Any elected official should not be doing business with public bodies that he has influence over for public gain. That just plain WRONG!
Sitting in a room whining about roads for one area of the parish does not make him qualified.
So you own a business but you want to do something for your area and run for office. The penalty here should be that you need to decimate your livelihood by getting rid of all your business that you had prior to being elected?
I live in this district. I was on the fence until I received a flyer in the mail on Saturday with a picture of Erdey and Obama. You can say what you want abou Erdey, he has NOTHING in common with the President. That flyer leads me to believe that Babcock is a complete joke and will not come close to beating Erdey.
Every word past “on the fence” shows your comment is a plant from the erdey camp. How could you intullectually be on the fence and call Babcock a joke 2 seconds later?
If you had looked past the photos, you would realize that the babcock campaign didn’t send it, a supporter of them did. It’s law that a campaign can’t communicate with these groups about expenditures – how can you blame Babcock for this?
I was a bit “put off” by the Erdey-Obama picture also, however, everything written on the flyer checked out as true.
I find it interesting that Mr. Erdey seems to always throw in a left jab to the kidneys just after he’s shook your hand. The above quote, “We’re not going negative blah blah blah… even in the midst of ‘unsubstantiated, derogatory and half-truth attacks.’” Seriously? You just accused your opponent of lying! I’ve seen all the mailers and commercials Mr. Babcock and other have put out about Mr. Erdey. They’re harsh, but they substantiate all of their facts with footnotes. Which part of the half-truth isn’t true, Mr. Erdey? Also, my wife is a teacher and she got a letter in the mail from Mr. Erdey today that attacked Babcock’s wife for homeschooling. It was another sucker punch. He claimed it was their right and then damned them for it. I think he’s running out of steam when he has to attack a candidate’s wife. Keep it above the belt, Erdey!
hahahaha Erdey saying Babcock just registered here is negative! Babcock has done nothing but sling mud. He has no experience, no education, no succesful business history, he has nothing but mud. He claims to be a christian with values, but he spews lies and hate!
No business experience? Didn’t he start his own business 8 years ago and it’s still going strong?
Why would LABI (Louisiana Association of Business and Industry) and the Baton Rouge Business Report both endorse Babcock if he has no business experience? Sounds like that mud you’re talking about is all over your hands…
I’m sure LABI endorsed DBabcock’s due to his vast expertise at doing nothing. Congratulations for that endorsement. “We have issues with Erdey so we’ll take whoever runs against him.”
I guess the Baton Rouge Business Report endorsed Babcock because they are tired of all the new businesses and jobs being brought into this Parish that are taking away from their tax dollars.
But when Erdey was endorsed by the Baton Rouge Chamber of Commerce, it surely didn’t imply that he is a puppet of Baton Rouge? C’mon Smith, you can’t have your cake and eat it too.
Im not the one touting it you are
Erdey is perhaps the least conservative, least reform-minded GOP senator. His average score on the Louisiana Legislature Log’s voting index (which is a more comprehensive version of LABI’s and LFF’s and focuses both on ideology and reformism) for his past term was 40, where 0 is the maximum liberal/populist score and 100 the maximum conservative/reformist score, about 25 points below the chamber’s GOP average for that period.
poor babcock, he can’t get Dale’s name out of his mouth and his face off his mind for one second. Could you imagine if his poor sould actually got lucky enough to work in the legislature? They would chew him up and spit him out. While everyone is making laws, he would be the one sitting in his office, coloring pictures of road maps. Sadly, he has the mentality of a senior class president, it has shown through his campaign. Erdey has more class than Babcock could ever dream of! The public knows who will represent THEM, and it won’t be some puppet who only wants name recognition. SENATOR ERDEY ROCKS!
With
some of the misleading rhetoric that has gone out in Senate District 13 I would
like to set something straight. First of
all my family put its roots down in Livingston Parish back in 1969. As a graduate of Walker High School, LSU and a
lifelong republican I have had the pleasure to get to know Derek Babcock and
his family quite well over the last four years. Derek is a honorable man who has worked for
years fighting to improve the insufficient roads in our parish. He cares about our children and will fight
hard to improve their education. He
knows the challenges business face in today’s over-regulated society and will
fight hard for policies that will encourage business growth. Derek has a strong commitment to ethics and
the courage to stand up for the family values that made Livingston parish
great. During these years that I have
gotten to know him and his family well, he has lived less than two miles from
my house, within the senate district the whole time. Please join me in enthusiastically supporting
Derek this Saturday. Livingston needs a
State Senator like Derek to fight for our Parish.
There are a lot of good points here but what bothered me regarding what Erdey said about the Babcock’s choice of homeschooling is this: I’ve spoken with Heather and her husband and they feel called by God to homeschool just like I did when my children were school age. Erdey swore to fight to take that right away from families. So I have a candidate who could care less about what God calls a family to do and he wants to take school choice away from parents. Erdey is a big government candidate. How is that ok?
And you guys are worried about a bridge? That doesn’t even compare.
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