Although Sean O’Keefe will no longer serve the state as chancellor of its Flagship University starting Feb. 1, his supporters would like him to be a United States congressman. A Web site gathering support for O’Keefe to run for Louisiana’s 6th congressional district was created Thursday, but O’Keefe said via e-mail Thursday evening he has “never seriously considered running for office.” “On a practical level, with a daughter in college, and two sons soon to be in college, this would be a difficult time for me to consider public service in any capacity,” O’Keefe said. O’Keefe said he has heard second hand of some draft campaign building, but he does not know who is organizing it, and he has not been contacted directly. “This is just a bunch of us getting together to say ‘please run,'” said Ben Couhig, creator of Draftseanokeefe.com “This is really just something we hope he sees and goes with.” Couhig’s Web site, run independently and without association to O’Keefe, encourages O’Keefe to run for the congressional vacancy left by Congressman Richard Baker’s resignation. Baker will resign from Congress no later than Feb. 6 to take a job as a lobbyist for the hedge fund industry. Couhig said he first thought of the idea when he heard of the unexpected resignations of O’Keefe and Congressman Richard Baker. “It’s an incredible opportunity that these two resignations coincided,” Couhig said. Louisiana’s 6th congressional district encompasses all of East Baton Rouge Parish, and both Baker and O’Keefe are republicans. Couhig said he has not directly talked with O’Keefe about either the Web site or if O’Keefe would consider running for Congress. “I asked a few people who I know are friends with him whether they thought he would be annoyed or upset if we put up this kind of site,” Couhig said. “And they expressed to me it wouldn’t annoy him, so we went ahead and did it.” Couhig said he would take the site down upon O’Keefe’s request or if O’Keefe announced he does not intend to run. Couhig said he believes O’Keefe is a better candidate for the position than others who have stated their intent to run because of O’Keefe’s experiences in previous employments. “Normally freshmen congressmen are not very significant,” Couhig said. “But I think someone with [O’Keefe’s] background and experience would be an instant asset.” O’Keefe has served as a presidential appointee on four separate occasions, including Secretary of the Navy, Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of the Office of Management and Budget. “I think Sean O’Keefe’s past experiences probably would make him a very attractive candidate for any federal position,” said Charles Weems, LSU Board of Supervisors member. “He certainly knows how the government works, and he has a strong record in the capitol city.” Weems said he had neither seen nor heard of the Web site until asked by The Daily Reveille. Jonathan Martin, University donor and chairman of Roy O. Martin Lumber Co., said he would support O’Keefe should he decide to run for Congress. He said he has neither seen nor heard of the Web site. “O’Keefe is well connected in Washington already,” Martin said. “So there wouldn’t be much of a learning curve.” Couhig said he does not personally know O’Keefe and has only met him briefly. He said the Web site attracted several dozen supporters within its first hour being online. “We’re just going to see what happens in the next couple of days to see what we’re going to do from here,” Couhig said. “We just wanted to know how much support was out there if he wanted to do it.” Couhig said he has not received any negative feedback in relation to his Web site. Couhig said he believes the decision is ultimately O’Keefe’s, and he will continue to support O’Keefe should he decide not to run. “All of our congressmen and senators are critical pieces to LSU’s progress as an institution,” Weems said. “And anybody that is in that seat – including particularly Sean O’Keefe … since he knows LSU so intimately – is an extremely important person to our University.”
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