CAMPAIGN THOUGHTS AFTER THE ELECTION!

Monday, November 9^th, 2026

Baton Rouge, Louisiana

 CAMPAIGN THOUGHTS AFTER THE ELECTION!

Change is in the air.  Even down here in the deepest of deep southern states, we are seeing the leaves on trees turning from green to a variety of browns. Thank goodness, the weather has changed from toasty warm to right down pleasant.  And if you want to see some real change, take a look at our politics.

Who would have thought that such a massive blue wave would sweep across the entire country. President Trump told voters repeatedly, some 37 times, that they should vote as if he were on the ballot. And voters did. They gave the Republicans a shellacking.

And get this. Who would have believed that in the Louisiana U.S. Senate race, an African American Democrat, who could not even get re-elected to the police jury in one of the smallest parishes in the state, would come within a whisker of defeating Trump’s hand-picked candidate, who is a sitting United States Congresswoman. 

Now I know coming close only counts in throwing horseshoes and hand grenades. But the Republican candidate, Julia Letlow, did little more than wrap her arms around President Trump and smile at cameras without taking any positions on issues. She should thank her lucky stars that the national Democratic Party did not give the Democratic candidate, Jamie Davis, any help at all. A little aid from the Democratic Party would have sent Letlow back to teaching school again.

In neighboring Mississippi, national Democratic organizations poured some $3 million into the coffers of the Democratic candidate, an African-American district attorney. It’s been 44 years since a Democrat held a US Senate seat in Mississippi. Votes are still being counted, but as of this date, the Democrat holds a 1700 vote lead.

National Democrats focused a major effort on the Mississippi Senate race. President Barack Obama filmed an endorsement ad. Former President Bill Clinton, former Vice President Kamala Harris, and several U.S. senators campaigned for the Democrat  in Mississippi. None offered aid for Davis in Louisiana. James Carville put it this way: “The national institution of the Democratic Party and the national institution of media doesn’t believe that Louisiana even exists.”

One good thing that came out of the elections across the nation is that having a massive campaign war chest does not automatically get you elected. In 2024, Kalama Harris out spent Trump yet she was defeated.  In last week’s election, Republicans out spent Democrats by some $1 billion. Elon Musk alone poured an estimated $474 million in Republican political campaigns during the 2026 midterm election cycle, according to federal disclosure records. There needs to be some kind of limit on campaign spending on both the national level as well as right here in Louisiana.

Louisiana also loses Mike Johnson as Speaker of the House. He announced he will not run again, and he would quite frankly have an uphill fight with so many republican congressional losses.Representative Steve Scalise, also from of Louisiana, is in the running to replace Johnson, and it certainly is in the state’s interest for him to be elected.

One little noticed change here in the Bayou State was the passage of a constitutional amendment by voters limiting any governor to two terms in office. Conventional wisdom here is the current governor Jeff Landry pushed this amendment so that he would not face a challenge from former governor John Bell Edwards, who was twice elected to the state’s top post.  But Landry overlooked the fact that Edwards had already served his two terms, and any limit on him running again would be considered retroactive.

The new amendment was passed after it was legal for Edwards to run for more than two terms. Simply put, you cannot pass a law or an amendment that takes away a right a person had at the time they were serving. The same logic applies to former Governor Bobby Jindal. So Edwards or Jindal can run again but Landry, who is just completing his first term, cannot. Maybe the Governor shot himself in the foot.

The Democrats will still have their hands full. President Trump still has two more years to serve, and the latest Gallup poll finds this Congress has a miserable 14% approval rating. And guess what? It’s only 729 days away until the next national election.

Peace and Justice

Jim Brown

Jim Brown’s syndicated column appears each week in numerous newspapers throughout the nation and on websites worldwide.  You can read all his past columns and see continuing updates at http://www.jimbrownla.com.