Louisiana Board of Regents Chair MISTI CORDELL (photo: Andrew Greenstein/Louisiana Radio Network)
Along with issuing a dual endorsement in the district six race, the Louisiana Republican Party also gave its endorsement to Misti Cordell in the district five election. Cordell is the chairwoman of the Louisiana Board of Regents, and she says she’s very grateful and very worthy of the party’s backing in the crowded field.
“I really think that I’m a person that is for the people and that can represent the people, because I’ve been one of the people for all my life,” Cordell said.
Cordell is one of six Republicans vying for the district five seat in the open primary, along with three Democrats. She says this endorsement will be a major shot in the arm.
“This is my first race, so I’m not entirely sure folks take me extremely seriously; but I do believe that they will now,” Cordell noted.
One of Cordell’s Republican opponents is State Representative Gabe Firment, who says he’s surprised that not only Cordell got the endorsement, but also that anyone got an endorsement a little more than two months out from the open primary.
“No one from the party ever reached out and inquired about a potential endorsement or where I stood on issues or what my record as a legislator was,” Firment noted.
Firment says while the lack of endorsement from the state Republican party doesn’t matter to him, he does have some questions about the process.
“What I’d like is just some insight as to what the evaluation process was like; how they determined which candidate was worthy of an endorsement,” Firment said.
Michael Echols, meanwhile, calls it a sad day for the Louisiana Republican Party. He says his campaign was excluded from the process, just as it had been a week ago, and deals like this will only hurt future Republicans. We also reached out to Stewart Cathey for comment, but he has not responded.
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