“Efforts to remove Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards from office because of complaints about his coronavirus restrictions and mask mandate have failed,” the Associated Press reports.
“The Louisiana Secretary of State’s Office said Friday that all parishes but one have completed counting signatures on a petition seeking to recall the Democratic governor, and the numbers have fallen far below what is needed to force a recall election.”
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards (D) blamed tariffs for the bankruptcy of Bayou Steel in his state, Bloomberg reports.
Said Edwards: “Louisiana is among the most dependent states on tariffed metals, which is why we continue to be hopeful for a speedy resolution to the uncertainty of the future of tariffs.”
Related from CNBC: “A gauge of U.S. manufacturing showed the lowest reading in more than 10 years in September as exports dived amid the escalated trade war.”
“A clear majority of Louisiana voters don’t want Donald Trump to win a second term as president, an independent poll shows,” the Baton Rouge Advocate reports.
“The poll shows that those surveyed by a 54-37% margin favor electing someone other than Trump as president… Only 47% of voters polled approved of Trump’s performance while 46% disapproved.”
“Trump’s weaker-than-expected poll results will likely have consequences for this year’s governor’s race because many Republicans have been saying a late-in-the-campaign endorsement from the president could deliver the decisive blow for a conservative Republican to knock off Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat.”
“Lawmakers in the Louisiana House on Sunday refused to set a minimum age to marry in the state, an idea that drew strong opposition from the chamber’s conservatives,” the AP reports.
“Louisiana lawmakers passed an abortion ban on a 79 – 23 vote Wednesday that would prohibit women from terminating a pregnancy once a fetal heartbeat has been detected,” NBC News reports.
“Gov. John Bel Edwards (D) has indicated that he would break with his party and sign the ban if it crosses his desk.”
“The House rejected an amendment that would have provided an exception to the bill for women and girls who had been impregnated through rape or incest.”
The Washington Post finds a late shift in voting in Louisiana.
“This suggests that the shift probably wasn’t a function of Ted Cruz’s (clearly strong) get-out-the-vote effort. Field efforts like that result in relatively limited swings, and it’s hard to see how they could have run a hugely successful turnout effort throughout the state uniformly. Instead, this looks like the state of Louisiana bailed on Marco Rubio in favor of Ted Cruz.”
A new Trafalgar Group poll in Louisiana finds Donald Trump way ahead of the GOP field at 44%, followed by Ted Cruz at 26%, Marco Rubio at 15%, Ben Carson at 6% and John Kasich at 6%.
Taegan Goddard
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.
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