Running for Governor in Louisiana -- An Overview

Why would anyone want to be the chief executive of a state that ranks at or near the bottom on almost every list of desirable statistics? Some would argue that the power that is wielded by the governor is one of the contributing factors in the decline of the state. It's power of that magnitude that has motivated fifteen people (11 serious; the bottom four couldn't even poll 1% in a recent survey of the electorate) to seek the job of governor.

Being Governor of Louisiana has been compared to being president of a Central American banana republic. The comparison is not all that far off the mark. For years, the Louisiana government has lived well off of revenues from the oil and gas industries. At the peak of the Arab Oil Crisis of the mid-70s, people in Louisiana were driving around with bumper stickers that read "Let them freeze in the dark." Since the 1930s, oil revenue has allowed the state to establish free textbook progrrams, an extensive public hospital system, massive infrastructure development programs, all of which made the men in charge of distributing the money very powerful indeed.

The Governor, of course, has been at the helm in this process. The people of the state feared the power of the office to such an extent that the state constitution did not allow a governor to succeed himself. He had to sit out a term before running again, which created a climate where strong political machines grew and prospered. Those machines (the most famous of which was the one run by Governor (then U.S. Senator) Huey P. Long, which maintained politicians in prominent positions until the retirement of U.S. Senator Russel B. Long in 1986. The constitution was amended in 1967, and John McKeithen was the first governor to succeed himself in this century. By that point, however, there was enough oil money to keep just about everyone appeased. When McKeithen left office in 1972, he was replaced by Edwin W. Edwards, who has since served four terms as governor (1972-76, 1976-80, 1984-88, 1992-1996). It is Edwin Edwards who has defined the position of governor, and it is he who has inspired the current crop of candidates to run.

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