NEW ORLEANS — Vice President Mike Pence came to Kenner this past Saturday. Two days later, President Donald Trump's son arrived in Lafayette. On Friday, the President himself holds a rally in Lake Charles.
In terms of politics, the GOP is pulling out the big guns to get a Republican into the Louisiana governor's office.
"You're seeing a lot of interest from all around the country to see that we can flip the only state where the governor is Democrat in the Southern states," said Republican Louisiana Congressman Steve Scalise.
Like other GOP members who've visited the state recently, Congressman Scalise won't say if he endorses Eddie Rispone or Ralph Abraham. Right now, the GOP doesn't seem to care which Republican wins the race. Its mission is to make sure it won’t be Democrat John Bel Edwards.
The GOP’s message: Louisiana loses with Edwards.
"You see Louisiana getting held back right now behind the South. Every other southern state is growing we're the only southern state that's lost population,” Scalise said.
"John Bel Edwards is a moderate Dem. He's been good for Louisiana. He inherited a $2 billion deficit. We know have a $500 million surplus," said Democratic Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond.
Congressman Richmond emphasized that Edwards is pro-life, and in his words solid on Louisiana issues. Democrats have been trying to frame the race as a choice between building on progress with Edwards or a return to the budget deficits of former Republican Governor Bobby Jindal.
"They just want a new governor that is Republican with an “R” behind their name. They have absolutely no interest in the well-being of the people of Louisiana," Congressman Richmond said.
The choice of course, will be up to the people of Louisiana. Edwards is currently the only Democratic governor in the deep South. On Friday, the President will do his part to make sure that becomes a fact of political history.
Trump's message to voters in Lake Charles will be less precise than traditional get-out-the-vote events. He'll seek to unite a squabbling Republican Party, trying to keep Edwards from a primary win, while not telling voters which GOP contender to back in Saturday's election.
"Republicans must get out and vote for either of our two incredible candidates," Trump said in one of several tweets about the Louisiana governor's race.
Abraham and Rispone each will attend the rally. Both claim long-term support from Trump, even as they quarrel over who backs the president more.
"The president deeply cares about Louisiana. Louisiana loves President Trump. It is a match that is literally made in heaven," Abraham said.
The president is not endorsing either candidate to maximize chances that Edwards will fall below the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff, according to a White House aide and a campaign aide, both of whom asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss strategy. Trump plans to endorse whichever GOP candidate makes it to a runoff against Edwards, the aides said.
In Louisiana, all candidates run against each other, regardless of party, on the same primary ballot. With polls showing Edwards well in the lead, national Republicans have bombarded the state with millions in advertising and visits from Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and Donald Trump Jr. to urge anti-Edwards votes and force a Nov. 16 runoff.
"Trump is going to energize the base, the people, the conservatives, make them recognize that we need to do something different," Rispone said.
Pollster John Couvillon thinks such visits will have marginal impact, animating voters who already planned to show up at the polls. He thinks Edwards' bigger problem is the U.S. House Democrats' impeachment inquiry, stirring up interest from voters in a red state who'll want to cast their ballots in opposition to anyone aligned with Democrats.
"To some extent, you can't entirely escape what has become the stigma of the national Democratic Party here in Louisiana," Couvillon said.
Edwards isn't the type of liberal, anti-Trump Democrat with whom the president usually clashes.
Louisiana's governor is an anti-abortion, pro-gun West Point graduate who avoids criticizing Trump, talks about his strong rapport with the White House and calls the impeachment inquiry a distraction for Washington. He doesn't focus on party affiliation and tries to avoid national political feuds in a state Trump won by 20 points.
While Edwards' efforts to keep the president at bay in the governor's race have been unsuccessful, the Democratic incumbent isn't complaining about the rallies. Instead, he has downplayed them, calling it unsurprising that Trump backs members of his own party in the "hyperpartisan" environment of Washington. He said he would continue to "work well" with the president and focus on his own, bipartisan approach to governing.
"That's the way we have moved our state forward, gotten out of the ditch. I work well with Republicans, with Democrats and with independents, anybody who wants to show up and work in good faith with me," Edwards said.
He'll need that crossover vote to win a second term.
Republicans nationally have targeted Edwards for ouster since his longshot election victory four years ago. But work to unify around one major contender failed, with the state's top-tier, well-known GOP officials passing on the race.
Neither Abraham nor Rispone has been able to break away as the top competitor, even as Rispone poured $11 million of his own personal wealth into the campaign.
Party leaders' efforts to keep the men from fighting each other have failed, raising concerns the backbiting could wound both GOP contenders and help Edwards. Republicans blame attacks among their own candidates for helping to elect Edwards four years ago.
---
More Elections Headlines on WWLTV.com:
---
Associated Press reporter Melinda Deslatte contributed to this report.