Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle wasn’t expected to have much of a chance against U.S. Senator David Vitter in the race to become the next governor of Louisiana. But Angelle has executed an aggressive ad campaign that has put him in a tie with Vitter, who wasn’t advertising until recently.
And now Angelle has brought out the big guns: former Miss USA Ali Landry, who cut a 90-second video endorsement.
Ali Landry Backs Scott Angelle
While Vitter was born in New Orleans and went to Harvard, Angelle grew up in Breaux Bridge (“The Crawfish Capital of the World”) and graduated from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette. Landry is also a Cajun Breaux Bridge native, and, unlike come celebrity endorsements, getting her backing only further emphasizes Angelle’s roots.
Interestingly, Angelle was a Democrat until 2010, switching during his short stint as interim Lieutenant Governor, serving under Gov. Bobby Jindal. Vitter and Jindal have a bitter intra-party rivalry, and Angelle is seen as close to Jindal.
Scott Angelle Making Surprisingly Strong Bid For Governor
Angelle is working hard to sell his conservative bona fides. His early ads focus on moving people off of welfare – “more people pulling the wagon, and fewer people riding in the wagon” – and religious freedom, defending those who wish to refuse services to gays on religious grounds. And his oratory is more rapid-fire and high-energy than Vitter’s initial ad effort.
And now he has a little celebrity glitz to add to the mix. Landry doesn’t go deep on issues in her endorsement, but she does stress that Angelle has a “devout mother” and “small-town values that honor people and respect differences.”
Angelle’s ad campaign has helped make this a real race, with two months to go. We’ll see if he can stay on the offensive.