Bayou candidates raise more than $2 million, state reports indicate

The campaigns for the Bayou Region’s largest political offices raised millions of dollars in the run up to the Oct. 24 primary election.

In the races for parish president, state senator and state representative in Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes, candidates raised nearly $2.6 million in campaign funds, according to campaign finance reports from the state’s ethics administration program. Some races featured multiple candidates running six-figure campaigns.

Mike Fesi ran the most expensive campaign in his bid for the state’s 20th Senatorial District seat, outspending all other candidates across all the races. Fesi managed to raise more than $457,000 by Oct. 4, nearly all of it from his personal wealth. He had spent more than $344,000 by that date. State Rep. Gordon Dove’s campaign for Terrebonne Parish President was the next costliest race. Dove spent nearly $315,000 by Nov. 1.

Those reports also reveal that Fesi’s opponent, incumbent Norby Chabert, received the most money from donors, pulling in nearly $259,000. J.J. Buquet was second in contributions, with his state representative campaign pulling in more than $206,000.

These figures represent the reports candidates have filed up until Nov. 1, unless otherwise noted. Each candidate has filed the Nov. 1 reports except for Fesi, Mark Atzenhoffer and Howard Castay. Their numbers represent funding through Oct. 4.

Parish President

The Lafourche and Terrebonne parish president races featured candidates outspending the opposition by wide margins, with six candidates bringing in more than $784,000 between them.

Republican state Rep. Dove outraised and outspent his only opponent, Republican parish councilman Danny Babin, by a ratio of more than four to one in the race to be the next Terrebonne Parish president. Dove brought in more than $321,000, including nearly $130,000 of his own money in loans he made to his own campaign. Babin raised more than $75,000 in the same time frame, all comprised of contributions.

Dove spent about $314,000 during this time, with $51,000 of that going toward loan repayments. Babin’s campaign spent slightly more than he raised, spending just over $76,000, although Babin had $5,000 on hand at the beginning of the race. Dove won the primary election with a 60-40 margin at the polls.

In Lafourche, challenger Jimmy Cantrelle raised the most money in an effort to unseat incumbent Parish President Charlotte Randolph. Cantrelle, no party, raised more than $151,000 for his campaign. However, only $2,800 of Cantrelle’s money came in the form of contributions. The rest of the war chest Cantrelle funded himself, plunking down $148,000 for his race. In comparison, Randolph, a Republican, brought in a total of $120,000, all in the form of contributions. Fellow challenger Aaron Caillouet, also no party, scored nearly $108,000, including more than $94,000 from his own pocket. Republican Joe Fertitta brought in $8,400.

By Nov. 1, the Cantrelle campaign spent more than $145,000. Randolph spent $99,000, Caillouet almost $108,000 ($50,000 of that repaying loans to himself) and Fertitta just over $8,000. Cantrelle and Randolph each pulled in 33 percent of the vote, with the challenger edging out the incumbent by 143 votes. Fertitta won 19 percent of the vote, while Caillouet came in last with 15 percent. The incumbent was sitting in a stronger financial position 20 days from the run-off, as Randolph’s campaign had $19,000 in cash on hand compared to Cantrelle’s $3,900.

State Senate

The Terrebonne and Lafourche state senate races featured one financial arms race and another where an incumbent easily outraised the opposition.

The 2nd Senatorial District in Louisiana only covers a small part of the Lafourche population. Incumbent Democrat Troy Brown’s campaign outraised his two opponents by an astronomical ratio. Brown raised more than $155,000, while Democrat Chris Delpit and Eric Weil, no party, did not raise more than $2,000 combined. Brown sailed to re-election with 72 percent of the vote.

The race for the 20th senatorial seat was the most opulent in the Bayou Region, with Chabert and Fesi combining to raise more than $700,000. Chabert raised the aforementioned $259,000, all in contributions. Fesi only brought in a little more than $12,000 in contributions in the same time. However, Fesi based his campaign on his own wallet, loaning himself just about $445,000 by Oct. 4.

Up until Oct. 4, Fesi had spent more than $344,000 of his war chest, while Chabert dropped $234,000 by Nov. 1 in his re-election bid. A third challenger, Atzenhoffer, vowed to run a campaign on no money, and stuck to his guns. He received no contributions and put up none of his own money, instead running a door-to-door campaign.

In a reminder of fortune’s cruel sense of humor, the candidate with the most frugal campaign may have proven fatal for the richest campaign. Atzenhoffer managed to secure 1,456 votes, or 6 percent in the primary. Chabert narrowly avoided a run-off with Fesi, winning re-election with 51 percent of the vote in the primary. Had Chabert won 260 fewer votes, he would be in a run-off with Fesi right now.

State Representative

The three races for state representative seats in the Bayou Region also featured candidates crossing the six-figure threshold.

In the race for the District 51 seat, incumbent Republican Joe Harrison raised the most money, but faced a tough battle for both votes and dollars with challenger Beryl Amedee. Harrison raised more than $86,000 through Nov. 1, all from contributions. Amedee, also Republican, raised more than $82,000 in the same time frame, including more than $8,000 of her own money. Castay, a Democrat, raised a bit more than $2,000 by Oct. 4.

While Harrison and Amedee raised comparable amounts, Harrison spent about $32,000 more by Nov. 1. Harrison dropped over $96,000 in the name of his campaign. While that was more than he raised, he already had more than $21,000 on hand at the start of the year. Amedee spent $64,000 for her election, and Castay spent a bit more than $1,000.

Amedee garnered the most votes in the three-way race, earning 41 percent on Oct. 24. Harrison will go against her in a run-off Saturday after winning 37 percent of the vote. Castay came in third with the remaining 23 percent. Due to her conservative spending during these reporting periods, Amedee still had more than $17,000 in her war chest as of Nov. 1, while Harrison held about $9,000.

District 52’s razor-thin margin of votes featured a significantly higher margin between the campaign’s bank accounts. Republican Jerome Zeringue raised $135,000 in his bid to take over for Parish President-elect Gordon Dove, while fellow Republican Buquet raked in $307,000 for his campaign.

Zeringue received $130,000 in contributions, ponying up $5,000 of his own money to bolster his bid. Buquet took in about $206,000 from contributions, and put in another $101,000 of his own for the race.

By Nov. 1, neither candidate had run the well dry, as Zeringue had spent $115,000 of his war chest, and Buquet’s campaign had parted with $237,000 in the race. At the end of the race, Zeringue still had almost $19,000 in his coffers, with Buquet holding onto just more than $55,000. Buquet may wish he had spent that remaining money, as Zeringue won the election by a mere six votes on Oct. 24.

The competition for District 53 featured a very close, three-way race in terms of votes. Incumbent Republican Lenar Whitney led the pack in funding through Nov. 1 by totaling $143,000 in contributions, which includes taking a $5,000 loan from Iberia Bank. Republican challenger Tanner Magee brought in $98,000, all contributions, over the same period. Democrat Brenda Babin raised more than $79,000, including $5,000 out of her own pocket.

Whitney also paced the field in spending, doling out more than $154,000 during this time. Magee spent more than $78,000, while the Babin campaign used a little more than $36,000. While there is a large discrepancy between contributions and spending for Babin, it must be noted that she received about $38,000 in in-kind contributions, which cover services or property a person or organization provides for the campaign. The majority of Babin’s in-kind contributions came from the House Democratic Campaign Committee.

In the primary, Magee and Whitney each secured 34 percent of the vote, with Magee earning 29 more votes overall. Babin came in third with 31 percent of the vote. As of Nov. 1, Magee had more cash ready for the run-off, as his campaign had $18,000 on hand, while Whitney had nearly $11,000.

Total Cost Tops $2.5M

The candidates for parish president, state senate and state representative in Terrebonne and Lafourche had raised in excess of $2.5 million since the beginning of this year. Split among the 20 candidates, that comes to $129,632 per campaign. Remove Atzenhoffer’s zero-dollar campaign, Delpit’s $308 campaign and Weil’s $1,463 campaign, and that average jumps to $152,405 per candidate, more than three times the Terrebonne median household income of $49,960, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

A majority of the primaries did not go to the candidate with the largest wallet. Three elections mentioned went to the campaign with the most funds, while four others featured leading vote getters who did not raise the most money in his or her respective races.

In both parish president races and the state’s 2nd Senatorial District race, the candidate with the most money won the most votes on Oct. 24. In the 20th Senatorial District race and all three state representative races, the richest campaign did not get the largest share of votes. •

Mike Fesi