Four Louisiana gubernatorial candidates are fighting to gain support before the Oct. 24 election, particularly from students at state-funded universities like LSU and University of Louisiana at Lafayette.
Several student interns identify on a personal level with candidates, finding common ground in military backgrounds, Cajun upbringings and ties to the LSU community.
LSU political science and history junior Robert Lancon was in high school when a girl in his 4-H club told him about her father — current gubernatorial candidate John Bel Edwards. He was a Democrat from Amite planning on running for political office.
Lancon, who was not a Democrat at the time, said he did some online research and agreed with Edwards on many issues.
Lancon especially favored Edwards’ stance on the Affordable Care Act and its provisions for disabled military veterans such as Lancon’s father.
“Having easy, affordable access to health care is very important to me because I’ve seen the struggles my dad has to go through,” Lancon said. “John Bel has always fought to bring those resources here.”
Lancon also discovered Edwards’ history with higher education policies, such as his fight for a balanced funding mix for higher education that would include 50 percent state funding and 50 percent tuition.
“When I sat down and thought about which candidate I would support, I looked at the candidate who had fought the hardest for higher education,” he said. “And no one really compares to John Bel.”
UL-Lafayette public relations senior Dane Adams, a campaign intern for Republican Public Service Commissioner Scott Angelle, said he dealt with the effects of the Legislature’s cuts to higher education firsthand as UL-Lafayette’s Student Government president last year.
“It helped me see how important it is that we elect, support or work with our political leaders,” Adams said.
He said his support for Angelle came after the candidate spoke about Louisiana’s oil fields at the Cajundome in 2010. Adams said Angelle’s interest in the oil industry — booming in Adams’ hometown of Lockport — impressed him.
He said Angelle’s conservative Cajun values of faith and family reflected his own, and the candidate reminded Adams of his grandfather, who helped raise him.
Adams said his grandfather told him leaders are meant to serve, and what the state needed was a servant leader.
“That’s Scott,” Adams said. “He’s one of the humblest servant leaders I’ve ever experienced working with.”
Political science junior Myles Sonnier, an active SG member and Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity member, was drawn to gubernatorial candidate and Republican Lt. Gov. Jay Dardenne, a former LSU SG president and member of Sigma Chi Fraternity.
“He’s been around Baton Rouge his whole life,” Sonnier said. “He still goes to the tailgates. He’s just a down to earth guy about that kind of stuff.”
Sonnier said he heard Dardenne speak on the state Senate floor several times and was impressed by his resume and his ability to consolidate the number of positions in his lieutenant governor’s office.
He said Dardenne made the several political offices he has held over the years, including city councilman, state senator and secretary of state, more efficient by reducing budgets for taxpayers.
“He’s been constantly doing more with less,” Sonnier said.
Lancon, Adams and Sonnier all said working on a campaign offered them different perspectives on the governor’s race.
Adams said his work on Angelle’s campaign allowed him to establish a friendly relationship with who he was voting for, while Sonnier said he learned how much power is in voters’ hands.
The more politically involved a student is, Sonnier said, the more likely he or she is to make a difference.
During the past legislative session, Lancon said he learned how important it is for students to have a voice.
“We go to the flagship school of the state, so we depend on public funding to help make us everything that we are, all the things we love about LSU,” Lancon said.
The David Vitter campaign does not allow student interns to speak to media.

Gallery • 17 Photos

Haskell Whittington

LSU political science junior Myles Sonnier, field director, making calls to potential voters on questions about the governor candidate Jay Dardenne on Wednesday Sept. 9, 2015, at Jay Dardenne's campaign headquarters on Perkins Road.