The head of the Louisiana Republican Party advises Congressman Garret Graves to stay out of the race for governor this fall. On the party’s Facebook page, LAGOP chairman Louis Gurvich says “I believe he would be making a terrible mistake by leaving Congress for the governor’s mansion.”
Political analyst Roy Fletcher says Gurvich is trying to build and maintain a unified GOP front in state elections.
“There’s been emails sent out about it, and I think this is just a continuation of it; that sort of policy which is ‘we have a better chance to win if we only have one Republican,’” said Fletcher.
Gurvich does not criticize Graves in his article. He instead lays out a case for why Graves is a greater asset to Louisiana in D.C., and winning the governor’s race would mean him letting his seat in Congress go, with a very narrow GOP margin of power there.
Fletcher says Graves doubtlessly has also considered these points, and also his own ability to raise needed campaign cash.
“It will be a significant and sufficient amount of money that will come Jeff Landry’s way because he is the endorsed candidate. So, I think Graves has to take that into consideration,” Fletcher said.
In his post, Gurvich asks, with the state GOP clearly backing Attorney General Jeff Landry, “why change all that for the sake of one congressman’s ego?”
Fletcher says he feels the state GOP wants to circumvent the spirit of Louisiana’s Open Primary system, which he feels is as viable now as it was when first implemented.
“It has become more and more viable, it seems to me,” said Fletcher, “because it allows a full array of candidates to have the chance to get in the big dance.”
