EDlection2019: Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards Keeps the Democrats Rolling in the South
Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, secured a second consecutive term on Saturday by defeating Republican opponent Eddie Rispone. This victory makes him the first Democratic governor to be reelected in the state since 1975. Despite the race being decided by a narrow margin of 40,000 votes out of over 1.5 million, Edwards’ win allows the Democratic Party to maintain control of the only governorship in the Deep South, which is seen as a significant disappointment to President Donald Trump, who made a strong effort to support Rispone’s campaign.
During his second term, Edwards will continue to govern alongside Republican majorities in the Louisiana state legislature. The voters who narrowly favored him in the gubernatorial race also empowered a Republican supermajority in the state Senate, which means they have enough votes to override the governor’s veto. The same almost happened in the House of Representatives as well.
As a result of the opposition from conservative lawmakers, as well as the newly elected Board of Elementary and Secondary Education that is friendly towards education reform, Edwards will face constraints in implementing his second-term education agenda. Due to his support of state teachers’ unions, Edwards has faced difficulties in slowing the growth of charter schools and making changes to the Louisiana teacher evaluation system.
The recent election results have further strengthened the Democrats’ performance in off-year elections. They have already secured the governorship of Kentucky and both houses of the Virginia legislature, all of which placed a significant focus on K-12 education.
On the Republican side, they managed to elect a new governor in Mississippi, but with weaker statewide margins than in previous years. In Denver, a highly anticipated local election, candidates backed by unions were successful in flipping the school board, which has been known for promoting education reform for the past 15 years.
In Kentucky, Democratic Attorney General Andy Beshear declared victory in the gubernatorial race against incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin by a narrow margin of 0.4 percent. Despite the state’s right-leaning political orientation and President Trump’s support for Bevin, Bevin was unable to overcome his personal unpopularity. After contesting Beshear’s win for over a week, Bevin finally conceded the race.
Beshear’s success was largely attributed to the support of educators who donated over $1 million to his campaign and actively campaigned to increase voter turnout. By capitalizing on the widespread dissatisfaction with Bevin, who had shown hostility towards teachers’ unions, Beshear promised to raise teacher salaries significantly and put an end to the state’s adversarial approach to public education. By keeping the focus on local issues, Beshear managed to overcome a significant partisan disadvantage.
At the local level in Denver, unions made their presence felt in the school board race by supporting successful candidates in at least two out of three contested seats. These results give union-backed members a majority on the board, which had been dominated by education reformers for the past 15 years. The dominance of education reform coincided with the district’s adoption of a "portfolio model" of education, which granted schools more autonomy and led to an increase in charter schools. While this model provided new options for underserved communities, the closure of some schools caused discontent among the community. This discontent led to a movement to "flip the board," and on Tuesday night, candidates like 21-year-old Tay Anderson successfully achieved that goal.
In Virginia, Democrats also ended a long period of being in the political wilderness by winning majorities in both houses of the General Assembly for the first time since 1993. By gaining two seats in the State Senate and six more in the House of Delegates, the Democratic Party now has unified control over the state government, along with holding the governorship. This will allow them to enact their agenda in the capital.
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