This is a spot put out by the Louisiana Committee for a Conservative Majority, which has identified the race in Senate District 13, which centers around Livingston Parish, as one of its top priorities and has endorsed Valarie Hodges in that race against Buddy Mincey. It’s considered one of the marquee legislative contests in this cycle; both candidates are current House members, and they come from essentially opposite sides of the same party.
Hodges has built a reputation as a principled conservative, and she commonly takes on big hot-button social and public safety issues, often with national implications. For example, this year Hodges had a bill barring ownership by agents of foreign adversaries of land in the state, something other states have moved toward. That riled up the Chinese community, or elements therein, but it was an example of a tough fight Hodges is willing to engage in.
As for Mincey? Well…
What Mincey is best known for at the Capitol is that he’s Clay Schexnayder’s bestest Buddy (yes, we did that on purpose). Mincey is almost Schexnayder’s body man, offering protestations of the Speaker’s virtue at virtually every turn. And beyond that he’s a consummate defender of Louisiana’s public sector, whether that means public schools, the bureaucracy, local politicians, or whoever, against any sort of effort at reform.
Which is why when Citizens For A New Louisiana put out candidate scorecards earlier this summer, Mincey took it right on the chin from them with a brutal 2/10 score.
Here’s the bottom line on Mincey – he’s a guy who 10 or 15 years ago before the Democrats became obsolete in all but the majority-black districts (and in uptown New Orleans where there are still white liberals to be found) would have had a “D” next to his name. But of course, you can’t get elected as a Democrat in Livingston Parish, so Mincey is a Republican.
But he doesn’t care about the brand.
So you get the same high-tax, ultra-corrupt, socialistic policies of a John Bel Edwards with this guy, only you get it under the Republican brand. Just like Mincey’s buddy Schexnayder, who on one hand talks about how conservative he is and on the other tells fawning stories about how much he just loved him some Edwin Edwards.
And that isn’t good enough. Not when Louisiana is last in all the public policy metrics – including one this week which has us as the second most unhappy state in the nation.
You can’t change that without leaders who are willing to stand on principle and don’t care about the good ol’ boy status quo mob. That isn’t Mincey, and it’s why people who care about this state are blasting away at him this cycle.