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Party Switch in LA: Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle (D to R)

By: Steve Maley (Diary)  |  October 26th, 2010 at 10:00 PM  | 

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Louisiana’s interim Lt. Governor Scott Angelle has announced that he is changing his party affiliation to Republican.

BATON ROUGE – Lt. Gov. Scott Angelle of Breaux Bridge today dropped his long-time Democratic ties and joined the Republican Party.

Angelle, who will return to his appointed position as secretary of the state Department of Natural Resources when a new lieutenant governor is seated after the Nov. 2 election, announced his decision at a Republican Leadership Summit in Baton Rouge.

Dissatisfaction with the national Democratic Party’s energy policies is a primary reason expressed by the ardent opponent of the moratorium on drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.

Excellent coverage of Angelle’s remarks to the Republican Leadership Summit at TheHayride.com.

Angelle was originally appointed Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources by former Governor Kathleen Blanco. Gov. Bobby Jindal retained a select few incumbents when he took office, and within a few months Angelle was also serving a key role as the Governor’s legislative liaison. When Mitch Landrieu’s election as New Orleans mayor left the Lt. Governor seat open, the Governor appointed Angelle to fill in, provided that he not run in the Nov. 2 election to fill out the remainder of the term.

Here’s why this is a big deal: Angelle is a popular and well-liked public servant who has led the state (and the oil and gas industry’s) fight against the deepwater drilling moratorium and the de facto permitting moratorium. He’s an up-and-coming political star with strong pro-life, pro-business and anti-Obama Administration credentials. He will be a candidate for higher office in the future.

You may remember that Scott delighted and entertained a crowd of 11,000 as emcee of July’s Rally for Economic Survival with his authentic Cajun stem-winding style:

In the election for a “permanent interim” Lt. Governor, Sec. of State Jay Dardenne (R) faces Caroline Fayard (D), a 32-year old attorney from New Orleans. The Dems have put a lot of chips on the table (plus an endorsement from Bill Clinton) to win this race in an effort to retain some small measure of relevance in statewide races.

The next election for a full four year term will be in 2013.

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  • tngal

    Really kind of expected some switchovers after the election. But this is good. Welcome , children. All are welcome.

  • http://www.thehayride.com MacAoidh

    …is the Democrat Party is flat-out hostile to domestic energy production unless it comes, as he notes so well, “the birds and the bees and the flowers and the trees,” and he just can’t take it anymore.

    It used to be that in south central and southwest Louisiana, a Republican had little hope of ever getting elected. Now, those areas might be the least friendly in the country to Democrat candidates. And it’s due almost completely to the idiotic energy policies of the Left.

    • http://vladenblog.tumblr.com Vladimir

      The Dems used to own LA-07 in SW LA; Lake Charles was a union stronghold.

      This election Dr Charles Boustany (R) is unopposed.

      The only election I can see being contested is Cao’s in LA-02.

      And the Dems don’t know how to spell “Obama”.

      • http://www.thehayride.com MacAoidh

        …that’s a political career which needs to be strangled in its crib.

        She’s 32 years old and she’s got Bill Clinton doing fundraisers for her. Her father, who is frightening, can bankroll a campaign for any office in the state without breaking a sweat and can get 2,000 trial lawyers to max out for her with a phone call.

        And she has people thinking she’s a centrist despite endorsing Obamacare and suggesting BP be forced to open a corporate headquarters in Louisiana. We might have 30 years of this woman on the political scene if we can’t cast her as a loser right now.

        More, for the unwashed but interested…

        http://thehayride.com/2010/10/not-a-lot-of-centrism-seen-with-fayard/

        http://thehayride.com/2010/10/caroline-fayards-fascinating-campaign-finance-disclosures/

        http://thehayride.com/2010/10/queen-of-hyperbole-gambles-on-becoming-louisianas-2nd-in-command/

        http://thehayride.com/2010/10/jindals-endorsaphobia-becoming-a-mental-health-issue-for-louisiana-republicans/

        • redtillimdead

          Top Dem officials are grooming her for 2011 against Jindal.

          • http://www.thehayride.com MacAoidh

            …who can raise any money at all.

  • cactusjack

    Do you think the 0 has any idea, amongst all those hooting, stomping Cajuns in the Cajun Dome, how many of them and their spouses also happen to be energy sector PhDs, MBAs, MSc’s, MFAs, JDs as well as incredibly skilled offshore technicians and irreplaceable industrial craftsmen? He doesn’t know America and its business, and he *sure* doesn’t know Louisiana or the Cajuns.

    • http://www.thehayride.com MacAoidh

      …and he doesn’t want to know how badly hated he is in south central and southwest Louisiana.

      The numbers are amazing.

      Magellan Strategies came out with a poll yesterday on the Vitter-Melancon Senate race, and one of the questions they asked in that poll was about Obama’s approval rating.

      In LA-3, south central Louisiana where Jeff Landry is expected to trash Ravi Sangisetty next week, Obama’s in the toilet with a 27 percent approval rating (64 disapprove).

      In LA-7, Vlad’s district in southwest Louisiana, it’s even worse. He’s down 25-65.

      This is what happens when you put tens of thousands of good people out of a job for no reason and then proceed to lie about it repeatedly.

      BTW, the only support Obama has is from the black community. Statewide, black folks in Louisiana give Obama an 82-13 score. White people? Not so happy. He’s in the toilet by a 16-77 margin. I suspect lots of other states are similar, particularly if they’re energy states.

      A link to the Magellan poll, BTW: http://www.magellanstrategies.com/web/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/Magellan-Louisiana-US-Senate-Survey-Release-102510.pdf

  • redtillimdead

    After seeing him at the Rally for Economic Survival, I knew he would not stay a Democrat for too long if he wanted to have a promising political future (which I think, and hope, he does). Dems would not let him near office with his attacks on Obama. I hope he runs for SoS after Dardenne become Lt. Gov and beats RINO Tom Schedler, who will take over after Dardenne leaves office.