Jeremy Alford: Maneuver brings in campaign donations

Before he was endorsed by the Louisiana Republican Party last fall, Attorney General Jeff Landry was confined to asking most entities for just $5,000 each to underwrite his personal candidate account and $100,000 a piece for Cajun PAC II, his leadership account.   

For the past two months, however, Landry has been moving key allies — more than half of the State Central Committee’s 230 members signed affidavits for his controversial endorsement — into important finance-related positions at the party.

Now Landry can encourage supporters to give an additional $100,000 to the Louisiana Republican Party to support this year’s ballot. So far the party has raised $721,000 since Landry’s endorsement and most of that money (the GOP gets a small cut) has been transferred into a subsidiary checking account referred to as the Victory Account.

As of last week the Victory Account had $525,000, and it’s growing by the day. The account will be dedicated solely to electing Landry as governor. Conservative donors, particularly those who are pro-Landry, seem to love the idea. Businessman Lane Grigsby, for example, kicked in $25,000 last month and Ross Laris of Raceland ponied up $100,000.

Many politicos rightly thought the GOP endorsement, when first delivered in November, would translate into a fundraising increase for the party. While that may be the case in the long run, the actual reality of the endorsement is that Team Landry has gained a new and powerful finance account that can 100% coordinate with his campaign. 

This new arm of Landry’s fundraising apparatus joins a personal campaign finance account that’s holding $5 million and a leadership PAC with $1.5 million ready to spend. But how much money could the Victory Account eventually raise?

If Landry finds himself in a corner, the party endorsement could pay dividends well beyond the Victory Account. Due to the endorsement, the party was able to send a “Rule 11” letter to the Republican National Committee — a letter that’s usually transmitted in the fall during gubernatorial election years.

The letter allows groups like the RNC and RGA to begin spending immediately on behalf of the endorsed candidate. The RNC is now also allowed to transfer unlimited amounts to the state GOP. While unlikely, especially with big battles in states like Kentucky on tap, Landry will no doubt enjoy having that in his back pocket. (When businessman Eddie Rispone and former U.S. Sen. David Vitter previously ran for governor, they didn’t receive the benefits of a “Rule 11” letter until October of 2019 and 2015, respectively.)  

Unable to coordinate with the Landry campaign is Louisiana Citizens for Job Creators, a supportive super PAC that has about $300,000 in the bank and a history of raising a heck of a lot more. You can expect the super PAC to be heavy on the media side this year, with Ben Yoho of the Strategy Group Co. hired to produce television spots in the coming months. 

Aside from contributing to what will be a record-breaking year for spending on a governor’s race, Landry is also introducing a new fundraising structure. He’s among the first gubernatorial candidates to successfully deploy a joint fundraising committee, or JFC, called the Louisiana First Fund.

Neither new nor novel, the Louisiana First Fund is essentially an umbrella organization for Landry’s personal campaign finance account and Cajun PAC II, his leadership account. Donors who would normally cut two checks to the two organizations can instead cut one large check to the JFC, the Louisiana First Fund, which then distributes the money to the two accounts using a formula that’s published here and based on the giving thresholds we all know and love.

Between all of the accounts mentioned above, there’s $7.3 million sitting in banks available to spend on or in support of Landry’s gubernatorial bid. So far. And it’s doubtful any of the major candidates for governor will be able to match that sum any time soon. 

On the other hand, few in this race believe the state’s highest office can simply be purchased. While money certainly helps, the fundraising leader doesn’t always gain the favor of a majority of voters.

For more Louisiana political news, visit www. LaPolitics.com or follow Alford on Twitter @ LaPoliticsNow