As Gov. Bobby Jindal’s colossal re-election campaign gets under way, it seems the incumbent candidate is fighting a race guaranteed to go his way.
Jindal kicked off his campaign Aug. 23 with a new commercial touting Louisiana’s job growth under his administration. According to the Times-Picayune, he has raised nearly $14 million for his campaign since its inception.
Amid Jindal’s ostensible shoo-in, Tara Hollis — a schoolteacher from Haynesville — announced her candidacy Wednesday afternoon and has been the only recognizably vocal competitor so far.
Hollis said her decision to run was “based on the fact that [her school] lost 60 teachers in May due to budget office.”
Hollis also focused on Jindal’s proposed prison privatization and his veto of cigarette taxes, both of which she fervently opposes.
In her attempt to reach the “real people” of Louisiana whom she says she represents, Hollis has traveled to places across the state, such as the Gueydan Duck Festival and, most recently, political science classes at the University of Louisiana-Lafayette.
G. Pearson Cross, chair of the department of political science at ULL, invited Hollis to speak for his state and local government classes.
“Here’s a person who’s running around the state, has an open schedule and is running for governor,” he said. “Although she has frankly no chance of being do.”
Jindal’s odds for winning another term as governor seem high based on a public opinion poll conducted last week. Approximately 60 percent of the 600 registered voters polled said Jindal deserves re-election. A similar number of respondents reported feeling Jindal has improved various parts of the state — for example, about 61 percent said he’s taken Louisiana in the right direction, and about 66 percent said Jindal has made Louisiana more attractive to businesses.
In the same poll, just more than 6 percent of respondents said they would vote for Hollis.
Until the primary election registration began Tuesday, Hollis was Jindal’s only rumored opponent. As of Wednesday, however, four more candidates have registered for the primary, three of which are running without party affiliation, according to The Associated Press. They include Robert Lang Jr., of Natchitoches; Ron Ceasar, of Opelousas; and Leonard Bollingham, of Baton Rouge. The other Democratic opponent is Cary Deaton, of New Orleans. Filing for the race will close today.
One of the most likely prospective candidates was Sen. Rob Marionneaux, D-Livonia.
Marionneaux pledged to make a decision by last week, but a combination of questionable poll data and a desire to spend time with his son have interfered with his bid. As of Friday, Marionneaux has formally renounced his bid for governor.
Gov. Jindal, on the other hand, officially filed his notice of candidacy Tuesday.
But while Hollis bounces around Louisiana to build grassroots support, Jindal’s campaign office is recruiting students and interns on campuses around the state to partake in the re-election effort.
“A lot of LSU students have volunteered for the campaign,” said Aaron Badr, communications worker at Jindal’s campaign office in Baton Rouge.
He said the interns participate by either receiving phone calls in the office or by campaigning door to door.
“We are fully supporting Bobby Jindal,” said William Dunckelman, Jr., president of the University’s College Republicans organization.
Though she remains the only Democratic contender, Hollis has not yet been officially supported by the Democratic Party.
 
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Contact Clayton Crockett at [email protected]