Democrat in Louisiana secretary of state runoff was surprise

[RandySF]

BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Democratic candidate Gwen Collins-Greenup reached the December runoff in Louisiana’s secretary of state race with little money for advertising and no backing from her party, emerging as the state’s Election Night surprise.

Still, Collins-Greenup faces difficult odds to win the office in the Dec. 8 showdown against Republican Kyle Ardoin, who’s working as interim secretary of state until voters elect someone to the position.

GOP candidates combined received support from 61 percent of voters in Tuesday’s open primary, suggesting Ardoin has the advantage heading into the final four weeks of the campaign.

Democratic Party leaders, meanwhile, were struggling to explain how Collins-Greenup reached the runoff at all, instead of the party’s endorsed contender, Renee Fontenot Free, a top aide to two former secretaries of state.

“I think there’s a lot of us scratching our heads trying to see what happened there,” Stephen Handwerk, executive director of the Louisiana Democratic Party, said Wednesday.

Collins-Greenup, a lawyer and notary from the small East Feliciana Parish town of Clinton, raised less than $3,000 for the race and spent the small sum on her qualifying fee, website registration, signs and campaign push cards. She did no widespread advertising.

But the Democrat traveled the state attending candidate forums and small events, speaking to whatever groups invited her and seeking support among African-American voters who make up the base of Louisiana’s Democratic Party.


https://www.klfy.com/news/your-local-election-hq/democrat-in-louisiana-secretary-of-state-runoff-was-surprise/1579745439



GWEN COLLINS-GREENUP







https://www.gwensos.com

[Blue Owl]

1. Yay for Gwen!!!

[littlemissmartypants]

2. Very cool. nt

[iluvtennis]

3. Now that Gwen is in the runoff, the Louisiana Democratic party should support her run.

[Awsi Dooger]

4. One of the most interesting stories I've seen

And not exactly close. She defeated the favored Democrat by 50,000 votes

[rpannier]

5. "I think there's a lot of us scratching our heads trying to see what happened there,"

Maybe this is part of your answer:

But the Democrat traveled the state attending candidate forums and small events, speaking to whatever groups invited her and seeking support among African-American voters who make up the base of Louisiana’s Democratic Party.

Amazing idea... speaking to any group that would have her probably helps an awful damned lot

Meet-and-greets are still important