I have spent a lot of my life in the civic and political world, always focused on ways to improve the prospects of our people. I have been driven by one guiding principle; my belief is that our inability to achieve prosperity for the people is NOT just because we live in a poor state; instead, I believe that we live in a state rich in assets but full of poor people. That is a huge difference and is in contradiction to what so many politicians tell us to excuse their poor performance.

I believe the real problem has been that we haven’t had leadership that knows how to apply our assets to the benefit of the people and that is why we remain mired in last place of economic and social measures. We have allowed a political philosophy from the early 20th century to so dominate our very lives that we have lost sight of what as a state we should be, a state full of highly prosperous people.

Through our history we have suffered under underqualified, even corrupt leadership in the governor’s office. And yes, we have had a complicit legislature that has recklessly followed whatever misguided policies the governor has promoted. Now, once again it is time to select who will govern our state for the next four years. To me the choice is clear.

Think about this, can you name even one proposal, let alone initiative, that the current governor, John Bel Edwards, has offered to make our state a more attractive place for people and business to grow in or to relocate to? Education, infrastructure, economic development, tort reform; anything?

He now runs on a motto of “People Over Politics”, yet all he stands for is growing government to protect failed political practices and his political allies that have held us back. He has not undertaken anything in the way of creating efficiency or effectiveness in government. And worse in contradiction to his own promises, his only answer has been to tax more and more to sustain his politics.

A classic example is how he helps his fellow trial lawyers feed from the political trough even as you pay as much as double what drivers in other states pay; even without concern that so many jobs have been driven from the state by aggressive trial lawyer practices.

He has not offered one idea that would give you pause to think that he has any clue how to, or worse, any inclination to want to help our people take advantage of the greatest economic boom in the history of the world. You and I know that economic opportunity, not government dependency, is the only way to get our people out of pervasive poverty, yet his inability to lead us out of our circumstances is the very reason that we are a state so full of poor people.

Congressman Ralph Abraham seems to be an intelligent and personable candidate, but I have no idea of his skills, what he has done, or what he represents. Perhaps, with time, he will make a strong case for his abilities and record.

This leads me to my good friend, Eddie Rispone. I have worked closely with Eddie for a dozen years. You probably know that Eddie is a self-made, highly successful business person. But what you probably don’t know is that he gives unselfishly of his time and money to promote quality education for one reason only, to help our poorest children. And when I say that he gives, I mean he gives substantial time and money, I know I have seen it. He is not one who just makes a contribution or two and calls it a day; no, he spends a lot of time personally getting down in the weeds and fighting for kids. He believes as I do the old expression “Give a man a fish and he feeds his family for a night; teach a man to fish and he feeds his family for a lifetime”.

His dedication to children alone impresses me no end. But there is more. Eddie, despite all the obstacles to prosperity that is offered by corporations being based here, created from scratch a major company in our state. He overcame all the obstacles that prevent businesses from growing in Louisiana, obstacles which can be traced directly to the historic policies of our current governor and his fellow Democrats. Eddie’s personal experiences have taught him what we must do in order to attract businesses that will employ hundreds of highly paid Louisianans. Eddie knows how to get things done and he proves it every day. That invaluable experience can’t be attributed to many of the politicians that have asked for your vote in the past.

Eddie brings to this governor’s race his proven drive to create a state in which prosperity is the rule, not the exception. As exemplified by his passion for all children, he also brings an absolute dedication to our people. Eddie Rispone fulfills the potential that has always been lacking in a great leader for our state. He has a vision and better yet he knows how to deliver on it for the people of Louisiana.

I wholeheartedly endorse Eddie Rispone to be governor of Louisiana. His election to be our leader is the only way to finally get us on a path to the prosperity that we have for so long been deprived of. Unselfish, highly successful, giving men and women are rare, but Eddie is one of them.

It’s been said before but never has it been so obvious, come Election Day our people will have a choice; more of the same mediocrity and poverty or a new path toward the opportunities that have eluded us for so long.

I humbly ask everyone to take the time to understand what Eddie offers for our people and our children. And when you do, I am confident that you too will appreciate and vote for my friend, Eddie Rispone.