Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat said former Governor Edwin Edwards, who died Monday at 93, presided over several major changes in state politics that are still with us today.
Pinsonat said one of the biggest changes resulting from the Edwards years came early in the first of his four terms in office, that being the shifting of political power in Louisiana from the north to the south.
“When Edwin ran for Governor in 1971 his theme was let’s take it back from them, and he was talking about North Louisiana,” said Pinsonat. “His theme was they have had it long enough.”
In his first term in office, Pinsonat said Edwards ruffled some feathers by being the first Governor to really bring Blacks into state government.
“All of a sudden around the Capitol you started seeing Black department heads, Black chief assistants to him, the entire process had been devoid of a lot of Blacks period in state government and Edwin changed that dramatically,” said Pinsonat. “He appointed prominent Black leaders in communities to positions of power in state government, it became commonplace Blacks walking around the Capitol and being part of the system.”
Pinsonat said that decision to bring Blacks into state government would provide Edwards with a solid base of support from the African American community every time he ran for office.
Edwards’ tenure also saw the state adopt a new constitution and completely overhaul how it generated revenue from the oil and gas industry. Pinsonat said Edwards made the call to switch from a flat fee from the industry to a percentage, a decision that led to a windfall for state coffers that made Edwards a highly popular figure. Edwards’ opponents argue though that despite all of that money coming in, not much got done.
“A lot of that money was doled out to local projects, things that needed fixing and didn’t get fixed and the criticism was a lot of his friends were on the receiving end of a lot of those projects,” said Pinsonat.
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