Congressional race politics intense

Just a few days after he announced his bid for the 6th Congressional District, state Sen. Dan Claitor, R-Baton Rouge, fell under fire from negative robocalls that peppered his hometown earlier this month.
Based on reports from LaPolitics.com subscribers and an interview with Claitor, the calls accused him of wanting to tax Christians and of being opposed to the tea party movement.
“I’ve never said either of those things,” he responded.
Claitor said he had three phone calls in the span of two minutes Monday, Dec. 9, from constituents telling him he was doing a great job, the last adding “don’t pay any attention to those calls” before they hung up.
“I didn’t think anything of it at first,” Claitor said. “I just thought they were inspired by the holidays.”
Some of his constituents shared the caller ID information with Claitor and the incoming phone number matches up with one the D.C.-based Family Research Council once used for polling, according to online call center forums. There are some indications that number could have been possibly spoofed by a name or number showing up on caller ID that isn’t the original source.
Recent media reports have pitted Claitor against Family Research Council President Tony Perkins as foils, with Claitor promising a more pragmatic approach compared to the FRC, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has labeled as a hate group.
While nailing down who sponsored the negative robocalls calls has proven tricky, FRC spokesperson Darin Miller said, “The calls are not an FRC operation.”
How long will Perkins ponder?
One of the rumors swirling around the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association’s annual lobbyist Christmas party last week was the possibility that Perkins has already decided not to run for the 6th Congressional District seat.
“He’s out,” said one source. “We found out this morning.”
A friend of Perkins said that he hadn’t heard anything like that yet.
“Tony is still in the consideration stage as far as I know, but he may have made that decision already,” the friend said. “It’s always possible.”
Miller, FRC’s spokesperson, did not respond to an email inquiring to Perkins’ status.
TOPS bill for grad students will be back
While there are a variety of issues that might be discussed in regard to TOPS during the 2014 regular session, there’s at least one idea for a small expansion of the popular scholarship program that could be debated again.
State Rep. Hunter Greene, R-Baton Rouge, said he plans to re-introduce legislation to tap into TOPS to help students who received their undergraduate outside of Louisiana to return to the state for their graduate degree. A similar proposal from Greene was stalled earlier this year alongside several other bills that would have created new layers of eligibility in the program.
But Greene, since he first introduced the idea, has slowly been narrowing its scope. As it stood last, Greene was only focusing on graduate degrees that are in high demand in Louisiana, like those in the health services and allied health fields.
He said his proposal has the ability to not only draw back lost residents, but also bring in new ones, thus broadening Louisiana’s tax base and expanding its talent pool. “Generally speaking, those students that come back when they go out of state, if we can get a chance to get those kids back, they will have probably met someone in college,” he said, “they’re probably going to bring that fiancée or boyfriend or girlfriend back to the state with them.”
The bill that he will likely introduce in 2014, however, is still being drafted.
Landmark coastal suits conflict
In one corner is the Coastal Protection and Restoration Authority, whose membership approved litigation this week against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. The CPRA wants the Corps to take full responsibility for a $3 billion restoration job involving the Mississippi River Gulf Outlet and the operation and maintenance of the Algiers Canal hurricane levees.
In the other corner stands the Southeast Louisiana Flood Protection Authority-East, which has its own lawsuit filed against 97 oil and gas companies demanding that they immediately restore damages to wetlands caused by decades of energy exploration.
While there’s no relationship between the two sets of litigation in regard to why they were filed, they do conflict.
“The lawsuit the flood authority filed attempts to hold the oil and gas industry accountable for what are responsibilities of the Corps of Engineers,” said CPRA chairman Garret Graves.
That could create a scenario-possibly-where the first to win a court decision affects the other. With 97 defendants weighing down the flood authority’s suit, that gives the CPRA a head start.
“If we’re successful, it’ll knock the wind out of their sails,” said House Natural Resources Chairman Gordon Dove, R-Houma, also a CPRA member.
Another pending legal question involves what happens if and when the CPRA is successful. While CPRA boosters argue the Corps could simply move forward with the work, others like John Barry of Restore Louisiana Now believe Congress will have to approve a separate appropriation.
“I wouldn’t hold my breath for that,” said Barry, the former vice chairman of the flood authority who helped file the suit against oil and gas companies before being removed by an angered Gov. Bobby Jindal.
“But I do applaud their effort to hold the Corps accountable,” he added.
State officials, though, aren’t as complimentary of the flood authority’s suit.
“It’s safe to say the case does conflict with our legal strategy,” said Graves.
They Said It
“I’m not eaten up with running for anything. If my goal was a political goal, that would be easy to define and decide. I’m not plotting a political career.” — Board of Elementary and Secondary Education chairman Chas Roemer, on rumors he may become a candidate for either the U.S. Senate or the 6th Congressional District
“You know who cares where I fall on the political spectrum? People who make a living off of it.” — Roemer, on where he fits ideologically in the Republican Party
For more Louisiana political news, visit www.LaPolitics.com or follow Maginnis and Alford on Twitter @LaPoliticsNow.