October 22, 1999
Web posted at: 4:22 p.m. EDT (2022 GMT)

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Voters here go to the polls Saturday in an open gubernatorial primary and the big question appears to be whether Republican incumbent Gov. Mike Foster can get the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff and win re-election to a second term.

Foster is the front-runner in a crowded field of 12 candidates for Saturday's open gubernatorial primary, and he has the endorsement of the state's largest newspaper, The New Orleans Times-Picayune.

"Opponents have tried everything they could think of to gain some traction against Foster, but nothing seems to take," said Jack Wardlaw of the Times-Picayune.

One candidate, Phil Preis, has tried attacking Foster for dealing with former Klansman David Duke, who has made several statewide election bids. Foster admitted buying Duke's mailing list during his last campaign, and had to pay a $20,000 ethics fine for failing to report the deal.

"David Duke is an avowed racist and represents the worst of this state. It's a big deal with me," Preis said.

But Foster laughs it off as a mistake.

"People are just sort of grasping at straws. I mean, the truth is that the citizens of the state are pretty perceptive, and non-issues don't get them all stirred up," Foster said.

Foster has benefited from good economic times and the fact he hasn't faced allegations of criminal activities, unlike some of the state's previous governors.

"The best thing going for Foster is that he's had very good economic times, but besides that, he's run a clean administration and he's not been indicted," said John Maginnis, a Louisiana political analyst.

Foster's only real challenge comes from Democratic Rep. William Jefferson, a five-term congressman who grew up poor on a cotton farm and went on to earn a law degree from Harvard.

"I tell folks all the time, I'm glad I was able to start out my life like that, but I'm also glad it's over," Jefferson said.

Jefferson has had President BIll Clinton campaign for him, and he's spent more than $1 million on TV ads to tell voters who he is and what his plans are for the future. His television advertisements promote his plans to put air- conditioning in every school, raise teacher pay up to the Southern average and guarantee that every child will read by the third grade.

"Louisiana is last on the things that we ought to be first on, and first on the things we ought to be last on. We can do better than this," Jefferson said.

Yet when Jefferson takes his campaign to the voters, some political observers see something missing.

"He doesn't seem like he's really motivated the Democratic voter, gotten anyone's juices up. He hasn't led any crusade, and that's what you've got to do if you're running against an incumbent," Maginnis said.

That has allowed Foster to run a laid-back campaign, virtually ignoring everyone who is running against him. He doesn't even attend candidate forums.

"Really, what would I accomplish by going and just letting them harass me for an hour? So I just let them go argue with themselves and hope that they have a good time," Foster said.

Preis sent a staffer dressed as a duck -- the "debate duck" -- to follow Foster around, but instead of being embarrassed, Foster invited the duck into the governor's mansion. That strategy is expected to pay off for Foster Saturday night.

A recent poll by Southeastern Louisiana University shows Foster with 61 percent, while Jefferson is at 19 percent, and 15 percent are undecided. The poll had a sampling error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.

If Foster does get 50 percent or more, Foster won't face a runoff, and for the first time in almost a quarter of a century, Louisiana voters will send their governor back in for a second term.

This race has also been unusual because for its genteel quality. Louisiana is used to raucous campaigns that often turn into spectator sports. These days, political observers here are feeling a bit deprived.

Friday, October 22, 1999

• Independents are the wild card in New Hampshire
• Lott tax bill would make business research credit permanent
• GOP leaders would cut federal agency spending by 1.4 percent
• Democratic panel refuses four states' requests to move up primaries
• Bush backs abortion restriction, but points to other issues
• Louisiana votes on governor Saturday
• Buchanan memos from the 1970s foreshadow 2000 politics
• Bush backers populate group running ads against Democrats
• Sen. Boxer takes on Lott over judicial nominations
• House passes education plan for poor without vouchers
• Publisher recalling controversial Bush book
• Late-night compromise reached on banking reform bill
• The White House budget negotiator: Partisan, but flexible

ARCHIVES