When I served on the Jefferson Parish Democratic Executive Committee I wrote a letter to the media on their behalf about the endorsement of Jim Tucker (R) by several Democrats for the Speaker of the House position. Here is the statement:

The Jefferson Parish Democratic Executive Committee would like to voice its displeasure with those Democrats who have decided to abandon their party in the selection process for the next Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives. Representative Karen Carter and the other Democrats who have expressed their support for Representative Jim Tucker are doing their party a disservice.

With the upcoming census, it is likely that Louisiana will be forced to redistrict after losing a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. It is vital that Democrats have control over this process so we can protect ourselves from the tactics that were used by former U.S. Representative Tom Delay (R-TX) and other Republicans in Texas during their most recent redistricting. If those Democrats who are crossing party lines on this issue believe that such events will not take place in Louisiana, they are fooling themselves. With the founding of the LCRM, similar to Tom Delay’s TRMPAC and ARMPAC, we can clearly see what the Republicans are intent on doing. If the Republicans had won control of the LA House, are we to believe that they would act in a fair and bipartisan manner?

We would urge all elected Democrats to stand firm and support a Democrat for the position of Speaker of the House. Any Democrats who support Tucker for the top leadership position in the House will be remembered for their betrayal of their party. The JPDEC urges the State Democratic Party and all other Democratic Parish Executive Committees to censure Democrats who vote for Tucker, to remove those Democrats from any party leadership positions, and to actively recruit candidates to replace those traitors in the next election. With the losses sustained by the Democratic Party in the last election, we cannot afford to have Democrats who will sell out their party in order to gain powerful committee assignments.