PSC Commissioner Mike Francis - District 4
District 4 Public Service Commission member Mike Francis says he will run for Secretary of State this fall; challenging incumbent Kyle Ardoin. Francis tells LRN he has spoken with local clerks of court – who handle elections on the local level – and many feel the Secretary doesn’t communicate with them. He says their thoughts on improving elections are tossed aside…
“I’ve been very disappointed to hear all the clerks talk about how their ideas are falling on deaf ears, for the most part,” says Francis.
But Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin says that’s little more than campaign rhetoric…
“We are in regular contact with the clerks of court. I think, unfortunately you know, the Commissioner is trying to create a rift where there isn’t a rift,” Ardoin says.
The Heritage Foundation currently ranks Louisiana’s election system #6 of 50 states for integrity. Francis – who has been a PSC member since 2016 – says if elected Secretary, he’ll listen to everyone and work to further improve that ranking…
“I’m fixing to take it up to Number One. I want to be the best. I want to give people, like, in New York and California and a few of these other states an example of how good, fair elections are done.”
Ardoin succeeded Tom Schedler in 2016, after the latter resigned amid scandal. He was re-elected to a full term in 2019. He says he will seek re-election based upon his record as Secretary of State…
“I think we’ve done a great job. We have an excellent record in doing the elections; 6th in the nation in election integrity by the Heritage Foundation.”
Also running for Secretary of State is Republican Brandon Trosclair, an Ascension Parish businessman who says Louisiana elections are “tarnished by years of mismanagement and controversy.”
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