Outspoken Education Reform Foe Wins La. Governor’s Race, But Will He Spend Political Capital Going After K-12?
New Orleans, Louisiana
In a surprising turn of events, voters in Louisiana made history by electing a Democrat as their governor. However, supporters of education reform need not fear, as the election of John Bel Edwards may not spell the end of their cause.
Those in favor of education reform in Louisiana were apprehensive about the possibility of Edwards winning the election. He has been a vocal opponent of charter schools, has strengthened his ties to teachers unions, and has criticized the Common Core. Additionally, he had pledged to replace State Superintendent John White, a strong advocate for school reforms in the state.
In recent weeks, however, Edwards has been reaching out to reform-friendly Democratic politicians and education leaders in an effort to address their concerns about his education agenda. Furthermore, in other runoff elections that occurred on the same day, education reformers gained control of seven out of the eight seats on the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, demonstrating their influence in the state.
Though Edwards will have the power to appoint three members to the board when he takes office, he would need eight votes to replace White. Observers believe that he is unlikely to waste valuable political capital on a fight he cannot win.
For now, education reformers are cautiously optimistic about Edwards’ victory and are committed to finding common ground with the new governor. They hope that he recognizes the progress made through education reforms and understands that rolling them back is not what voters want or what students need. They also look forward to working with him on expanding early childhood education and increasing funding for higher education.
In the 2015 elections for the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education, reform-friendly members won the majority of seats, while anti-reform members were in the minority.
According to Lane Grigsby, a businessman and chairman of a super PAC involved in the BESE races, Edwards’ election was more about rejecting his opponent, David Vitter, than about public schools. He believes that voters elected to keep the current education reforms, as evidenced by the majority of reform-friendly candidates winning in the BESE elections.
Just a few months ago, Vitter was expected to win the gubernatorial race, as few believed that a Democrat could win in a conservative state like Louisiana. However, Edwards, a conservative Democrat, successfully avoided being labeled as an out-of-touch liberal and instead focused on criticizing Vitter. He brought up Vitter’s involvement in a prostitution scandal and likened his leadership style to that of the unpopular Governor Bobby Jindal.
Vitter did himself no favors by attacking his Republican rivals leading up to the primary election, which alienated potential supporters. One of these rivals, Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, broke party lines to endorse Edwards, and many GOP voters followed suit on election day.
Edwards’ victory marks the first time a Democrat has been elected to a statewide office in Louisiana since 2008.
