The two remaining Louisiana gubernatorial candidates attacked each other’s records, personal lives and campaign tactics during the first runoff debate Tuesday night, 11 days before the Nov. 21 election.
Louisiana Public Broadcasting hosted the event, and moderators posed questions to candidates before giving them an opportunity to question one another on every issue — a format which devolved into shouting toward the end of the debate.
“I don’t intend to give anybody 100 percent except for my wife,” Democratic State Rep. John Bel Edwards said while responding to a question on workforce development.
“You’re not living by the honor code. You’re living by the lawyer code,” Republican U.S. Sen. David Vitter said in reference to Edwards’ campaign tactics.
After weeks of negative advertisements from both campaigns, including a recent Edwards ad alleging Vitter chose “prostitutes over patriots” during a congressional vote honoring veterans, the candidates shifted the blame for negative campaigning to each other.
Edwards campaigns “viciously,” Vitter said after dismissing a question about trackers and private investigators, saying he did not directly hire them but others in support of his campaign have.
Edwards has said throughout his campaign that he lives by the West Point Cadet Honor Code: “A cadet will not lie, cheat, steal or tolerate those who do.”
“Senator, the last part of [the honor code] is I will not tolerate those who do,” Edwards said during an exchange over campaign trackers.
Edwards pointed to a private investigator who was caught allegedly spying on a sheriff, saying Vitter paid him $156,000 under the guise of legal fees. Vitter said campaign trackers are a political reality.
Edwards attacked Vitter’s record as the “least effective member of congress,” and tied the senator to Gov. Bobby Jindal’s “miserable, failed policies” of the past eight years, while Vitter continued to tie Edwards to President Barack Obama and national Democrats.
Vitter repeatedly said his record is “dramatically” different from Edwards’, and said it is a “myth” that Edwards is a conservative or moderate.
On budget issues and tax reform, both candidates said they would unravel constitutional dedications and eliminate tax giveaways.
Edwards said LSU was on the brink of bankruptcy last year, and the state needs to adequately finance its priorities. State funding for higher education in the past eight years has decreased more than any other state, Edwards said, while tuition has increased drastically.
Vitter said he has a balanced approach to budget reform and has “butted heads” with Jindal in the past.
