Shirley Prejean
March 12, 2007Clyde Dennis
March 14, 2007
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Republican gubernatorial candidate Walter Boasso said Louisiana needs to hold a constitutional convention to rewrite the state’s main governing document and give regular citizens the ability to help guide its drafting.
Boasso, 46, a first-term state senator from hurricane-devastated St. Bernard Parish, pledged to hold such a constitutional convention as he made his formal announcement last week that he is running for governor in the Oct. 20 primary election.
“It has been over 30 years since we have brought about the structural change that is essential to our state by redoing the state constitution,” Boasso said of a document that dates to 1974 and has been amended more than 100 times.
A self-made multimillionaire, Boasso is one of at least three Republican candidates seeking to oust Democratic Gov. Kathleen Blanco, who said she is running for re-election this fall. Other GOP contenders include U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal, of Kenner, who lost to Blanco in 2003, and New Orleans businessman John Georges.
Jindal has cornered much of the backing of the Republican establishment, and Boasso is positioning himself as an outsider with a campaign slogan of “Take Back Louisiana.”
The state senator said he will pour a significant amount of his own money into a campaign that he expects will cost between $4 million and $6 million. He declined to say how much of his own fortune he expects to spend on the campaign.
Surrounded by supporters at the Mississippi River levee in Baton Rouge, Boasso said he was choosing to leave the Senate and run for governor because that’s the office that can make significant changes in Louisiana.
“Power rests in the hands of the governor and a few powerful special interests. Frankly, it’s a disgrace. The people’s voices and needs aren’t being heard or even listened to,” Boasso said.
Last Wednesday’s visit was the first stop of a multi-city announcement swing through Louisiana.
Besides Blanco, the Democrats running for governor include Public Service Commissioner Foster Campbell, from Elm Grove in north Louisiana; and Rev. Raymond Brown, a longtime New Orleans activist.
