Ringside Politics With A Punch

Governor Bobby Jindal is continuing to be used as a high profile GOP supporter of John McCain. In the past few months, Jindal has been the most popular Republican spokesperson touting the GOP agenda and criticizing the platform of Barack Obama. Just last Sunday, Jindal was a guest on the ABC Sunday morning show This Week.

Republican Plaquemines Parish Sheriff Jiff Hingle has become the latest GOP elected official to endorse U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu in the high stakes U.S. Senate race. Hingle joins an expanding list of Republican officeholders supporting Landrieu. The list includes St. Tammany Parish Sheriff Jack Strain and St. Tammany Parish President Kevin Davis.

On Friday, the Louisiana Sheriff’s Association voted to endorse U.S. Senator Mary Landrieu in her bid for re-election. According to Jiff Hingle, Sheriff of Plaquemines Parish and Mike Cazes, Sheriff of West Baton Rouge Parish, Landrieu “always stands by law enforcement. And now we are going to stand by her.”

In the four candidate race for Orleans Parish District Attorney, former Judge Leon Cannizzaro won a major boost this week with the endorsement of the Alliance for Good Government. Cannizzaro also picked up the support of the local chapter of the AFL-CIO. Together, these two endorsements will give Cannizzaro key momentum in this important race.

This fall, First District U.S. Congressman Steve Scalise (R-Metairie) will be challenged by Democrat Jim Harlan, a Lacombe businessman. Harlan was in the oil and gas business prior to Katrina and recently switched to the Democratic Party. He already has $554,378 in his campaign war chest.