First prominent Democrat enters race for Louisiana governor

BY SARA CLINE Associated Press

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — With just seven months until Louisiana’s election for governor, Shawn Wilson officially entered the gubernatorial race Monday, becoming the first prominent Democrat to seek the seat later this year.

The former head of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development, who appears to be the only high-profile Democrat that will run for the state’s top government post in October, announced his candidacy on social media and released an official campaign video Monday morning.

“Louisiana needs a governor who will build bridges, not burn them,” Wilson, 53, said in his video. “I’m Shawn Wilson, that’s the kind of leader that I’ve been and that is exactly the kind of governor that I promise to be.”

Wilson served as the Department of Transportation and Development secretary for seven years after being appointed by current Gov. John Bel Edwards. He retired from the position last week in preparation for his candidacy. During Wilson’s tenure the state invested nearly $5.5 billion in infrastructure projects, consisting of more than 7,000 miles of improvements. In 2020,

“I knew then that this was going to be a national nightmare and a national tragedy,” Plohetski said.

Soon after, he made the 2 1/2-hour drive from Austin to Uvalde, a small town about 80 miles west of San Antonio, making and receiving phone calls along the way. His first stop was the Town Square, where members of the community had gathered for prayer vigils. Then he went to the school.

Back in Austin, Garcia said he was focused on getting information about the shooting posted online and mobilizing reporters and photographers to Uvalde. He started downloading pictures of staff of the Robb Elementary School website, not yet knowing which of them were among the dead.

“Think of a Category Five hurricane of information, where it’s just pounding you and pounding you and pounding you hour after hour after hour,” Plohetski said. “And that’s what it feels like to be a journalist in a situation like this.”

The video, published in July by the Austin American-Statesman, was a pivotal moment in the news coverage that was dissecting the narratives of supposed law enforcement heroism painted by government officials after the shooting.

Plohetski said a law enforcement source reached out to him he was elected as the first Black president of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The Democrat faces a major uphill battle in a reliably red state that has four popular Re - to show the 77-minute security footage from inside the school, capturing officers checking their phone, using hand sanitizer and fist bumping each other while children and their teachers were alone with a gunman.

Plohetski was the first reporter to see the video. He negotiated with his source to publish a screenshot of the officers in the hallway, and he could report on what he had seen in the video.

When it ran on the front page of the paper, the reaction to the screenshot was “like a bomb went off,” Garcia said.

“I knew then that the public had to see, come hell or high water, that video,” Plohetski said.

When a source told him he could pick up a copy of the video one night, Plohetski did not even tell his spouse where he was going out of an abundance of caution to protect his source.

Plohetski, Garcia and their team began to discuss next steps late that night.

They unanimously decided they would take out the audio of the children screaming, Garcia said. But “we decided we were absolutely gonna run the gunshots because this is what an AR-15 sounds like when it’s killing people in a classroom,” he said.

The gunshots also put the law enforcement inaction into context--48 minutes in, another round of shots was heard. The officers did not breach the classroom until 21 minutes later, killing the 18-year-old gunman, publicans running for the state’s top government post. Edwards, a Democrat, is unable to run again due to term limits — opening a huge opportunity for the GOP in a state where former President Donald Trump overwhelmingly they say, at that point.

The Austin American-Statesman made a shortened, fourminute version of the video to show the most important parts, while also making the fulllength video available to the public.

“I think that we felt that we had served the public by bring- won the last two presidential elections.

Although the highly-anticipated October election is quicklyapproaching, Wilson is the first prominent Democrat to launch a bid for governor. Daniel “Danny” ing truth and reality,” Plohetski said.

But not everyone was happy the truth was out.

Plohetski said he and Garcia received death threats after publishing the video. Garcia called him multiple times a day to check in after the video was published, Plohetski said.

Cole, a Pentecostal pastor and special education teacher in Central Louisiana, is also running for the seat as a Democrat. District Attorney of East Baton Rouge Hillar Moore III and Katie Bernhardt, the chairwoman for the Louisiana Democratic Party, had long been considered possible blue candidates — but both announced last month they had opted against it.

Currently four prominent Republicans are running to lead the state: Attorney General Jeff Landry; State Treasurer John Schroder; state Sen. Sharon Hewitt; and state Rep. Richard Nelson. Also considering entering the race is U.S. Rep. Garret Graves and state House Speaker Clay Schexnayder, both Republicans. Gubernatorial candidates are required to officially submit qualifying papers to the secretary of state between Aug. 8 and Aug. 10.

In addition, three lesserknown candidates have entered the race: Hunter Lundy, a Lake Charles small business owner and attorney is running as an independent; Xan John, a businessman who unsuccessfully ran for U.S. Senate twice is running as a Republican; and Jeffery Istre, an oil field worker and U.S. Army veteran, is running as an see GOVERNOR, page 5 selves through education in a safe way,” Bartulis said.

The Austin-American Statesman’s coverage of the shooting has not stopped. Plohetski said he did over 50 network interviews in the days following the shooting. 10 months later, they are still trying to obtain more information from authorities.

“Sooner or later, the truth comes out,” Garcia said.

The dining halls hosted tabling events on Tuesday.

Bart Thompson, LSU’s chief of police, said simple tactics like locking car doors, paying attention to your surroundings and walking in lighted areas can help students avoid dangerous situations.

“The big thing with safety, whether you’re on campus or off campus, is be alert,” Thompson said. “We have become a big city, so we are trying to educate our student population when you go around areas, be alert.”

A large focus throughout safety week is how students can protect themselves during spring break.

The LSU Shield app is available for students to use no matter where they’re traveling or what city they’re in. Through GPS tracking, a student can use the emergency call in the Shield app, and it will alert the closest county 911, Thompson said.

Advice shared with students and events held throughout the week are offered to initiate safety conversations in activity-based and non-judgemental ways.

The LSU Student Health Center hosted “Sex Signals,” a program by Catharsis Productions, on Wednesday. It aimed to dismantle rape culture, promote healthy relationships and educate students about consent.

“It’s important to engage in preventive conversations, so that we have a basic knowledge, tools, skills and approaches to keep ourselves safe when we find ourselves in troublesome situations,” said Michael Eberhard, the director of wellness and health promotion at the Student Health Center.

Eberhard said students have a variety of resources to help them stay safe.

“You don’t have to do it alone,” Eberhard said. “There are so many great resources on campus and I think a lot of students sometimes will see the resource and think, ‘Oh, that’s for somebody else, not me,’ but it is for you, it’s for everybody.”

Safety week also targeted pedestrian safety with tabling events on Wednesday at the Old President’s House, the Tureaud Hall crosswalk and the Nicholson Gateway Apartments. Information aimed to help students improve their knowledge on navigating traffic and campus walkways.

Students interested in learning more about Safety Week events can visit tabling events throughout campus or visit Residential Life’s social media channels for a full list of activities.

LEGISLATURE, from page 3

Another bill, also proposed by Allain, would lower corporate income tax rates and change the corporate tax brackets. The two brackets would be below and above $50,000, instead of an additional bracket that currently exists for taxable income over $150,000.

Extending the time to charge juveniles as adults

Another law, proposed by Schlegel and state Rep. Stephanie Hilferty, a Republican from New Orleans, would extend the time allowed to consider whether to charge a juvenile as an adult.

The proposed law would give prosecutors 60 days, instead of the current 30, to make the choice

GOVERNOR, from page 4

Independent.

Under Louisiana’s “jungle” primary system, all candidates — regardless of party affiliation — will run against one another on the same ballot on Oct. 14.

If no candidate tops 50% in that primary, the top two vote-getters will advance to the general election on Nov. 18.

Along with navigating a crowded ballot, Wilson will have to race against time to successfully campaign. For context, when Gov. Edwards first entered the 2015 governor’s race, he did so two years and eight months in advance — giving more time to travel around the state, discuss his goals, earn endorsements, gain name recognition and, most importantly, raise campaign funds. for 15- to 17-year-olds facing certain charges.

As of right now, the candidate with the most cash on hand in the race is Attorney General Landry, who has amassed more than $5 million, according to campaign finance reports. The conservative Republican and staunch Trump supporter received a controversial early endorsement from the state’s Republican Party.

Given the state’s demographics, the trending of the parties and the lack of time ahead of the election, it seems that Democrats would have to find a way to defy political geography in a race that is the GOP’s to lose. But that has been done before — in Kentucky in 2019, in Kansas in 2018 and in Louisiana when Edwards, then a rural state representative, went on to shock the country not once, but twice.

Schlegel told 4WWL that “we have to make sure juveniles that do horrific crimes are being charged as an adult.” The lawmakers told the news outlet they believe the increased timeline would give prosecutors more time to screen cases.

Some advocates oppose the practice of trying teenagers as adults entirely, saying it puts them at heightened risk of abuse and suicide and limits the possibility of rehabilitation.

“The juvenile justice system, designed to emphasize rehabilitation over punishment, is better suited to meet youth’s needs,” said the Juvenile Law Center, a nonprofit law firm for children.