Tea Party activist Chris Comeaux is pleased to provide the following documentation to rebut claims by Secretary of State Jay Dardenne that statements about his voting record made by Mr. Comeaux and others are “lies.”

Below is a fairly comprehensive list of Mr. Dardenne’s votes that have been mentioned in the public arena in recent months. The bill number and year of the vote is listed next to each claim. To view the actual roll call vote from the official website of the Louisiana Senate to verify how then-Senator Dardenne voted, simply click on the word Voted. To view the actual title and wording of the legislation from the Senate website, please click on the bill number. Example: House Bill 1.

This media advisory should permanently end the debate on whether or not Mr. Dardenne actually voted for all of these bills. Regarding the claim that Mr. Dardenne voted to double state spending: Those links are not listed here. To verify this claim, simply go to http://legis.state.la.us/ and view the roll call votes on House Bill 1 for each regular session. HB1 is the budget bill. State spending doubled from $10 billion in 1996 to $21 billion in 2006. During that period, Mr. Dardenne voted “yes” on HB1 for ten consecutive years, beginning in 1997.

Official voting records of the Louisiana Legislature are online beginning in 1997. Votes made prior to that date do not have links because they are in a warehouse somewhere.

Regarding his vote for taxpayer-funded abortions, please note that this occurred during a special session in August 1994. It was House Bill 1. Please note that in special sessions and in this particular case, HB1 is not a budget bill, as in regular sessions. In the special session of August 1994, then-Senator Dardenne voted for HB1, legislation designed to legalize the use of tax money to pay for abortions in Louisiana. Also note that Mr. Dardenne DOES NOT DISPUTE THIS CLAIM, BUT DEFENDS HIS VOTE TO THIS DAY. He is on audio tape defending his vote this year, justifying it by saying he was afraid that the Clinton Administration would cut off Medicaid money to Louisiana if the bill failed.

So here are Mr. Dardenne’s votes and the documentation.

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