Posted on 06/13/2003 10:01:22 PM PDT by LdSentinal
Then there were nine.
Three of the dozen major candidates for governor dropped out of the race Thursday.
A fourth may soon follow.
Republicans state Sen. Ken Hollis and former Gov. Dave Treen said they would pull out of the race at a news conference attended by reporters, politicians, bystanders and outgoing Gov. Mike Foster.
State Treasurer John Kennedy, a Democrat, issued a news release Thursday saying he was out of the race and would instead run for re-election.
The Republican dropouts came after a gathering Monday of powerful Republican contributors from across the state to interview four candidates: state Rep. Hunt Downer, state Senate President John Hainkel, Hollis and Treen.
That group, led by Lockport shipyard owner Donald "Boysie" Bollinger and other state Republicans, feared that a field packed with seven Republicans could leave a pair of Democrats in a runoff this fall.
Bollinger's group picked Downer as their candidate.
Hainkel said earlier this week that without the Bollinger group's backing, running would be "very, very difficult" and that he would soon decide whether to go on.
"I'm contemplating what I'm going to do," Hainkel said in a call to Foster's weekly radio show.
Public Service Commission Chairman Jay Blossman, former state and federal health official Bobby Jindal and ex-Legislative Auditor Dan Kyle are the other major Republicans in the race.
Hainkel was invited to Thursday's press conference, state Republican Party Chairman Pat Brister said.
She lauded Hollis and Treen for dropping out of the race "for the good of the party."
Foster, who is backing Jindal, got up after Hollis and Treen spoke to praise them for dropping out "for the party."
Hollis said Thursday that he could not hope to run a viable race without the support of big financial backers like the men on Bollinger's panel.
He'll run for re-election to the Senate instead.
Hollis declined to back Downer.
"Endorsements are for another press conference, not today," he said.
Treen did endorse Downer. "He is one of the best political leaders we have in this state," Treen said.
"This is very important. It brings our campaign to the next level. It will certainly enhance my financial ability," Downer said in an interview later Thursday.
"I've always hoped to have $1 million by the end of the next (campaign finance) reporting period" at the end of June, he said.
The backing of Bollinger's bunch will help him reach that goal, Downer said.
Downer said he was invited to the press conference, but stayed away in deference to Hollis and Treen.
Hollis and Treen dropping out "gives us a better chance of having a Republican in the Governor's Mansion in 2004," Downer said
Downer deflected criticism from Kyle that Bollinger's panel was packed with his supporters. There were Jindal backers in the bunch too, he said. "That means it was an objective group."
Bollinger said Thursday he picked the panel's members to represent all areas of the state.
He said members were: Tommy Coleman and Joe Canizaro of New Orleans, U.S. Rep. Richard Baker of Baton Rouge, Bill Fenstermaker of Lafayette, Al Lippman of Morgan City, Jack Laughton Jr. of Lake Charles, Lansing Cobb of Alexandria and Mike Woods of Shreveport.
Bollinger said he picked men "who are politically astute and have the ability to raise money. I've worked with most of these people over the years."
Bollinger said he worked for six months to narrow the Republican field. His work backfired, he said, as the field ballooned to seven before Thursday's activity.
"It's a move in the right direction," he said.
The group reached a "unanimous consensus" to back Downer, Bollinger said, but would not say how the group voted before reaching that consensus.
The group was only interested in who could win, not issues, Bollinger said. "It was all about the politics of getting to the runoff," he said.
Jindal was also invited to join the process, Bollinger said, though Jindal denies it.
Jindal said well before Monday's meeting that he would not participate and was never invited to the interviews.
Bollinger said he expected Blossman to participate up until he got a message -- during Monday's interviews -- that he would not attend.
"It was all Blossman's idea." Bollinger said.
Bollinger said Blossman said in February that all the Republican candidates "should sit in a room and make our case."
Bollinger said that idea percolated in his head for a couple of months until he began cobbling the panel together.
On the Democrat side, Kennedy said Thursday his withdrawal will help the other Democrats in the race, but "it's still wide open."
The other major Democrats running are Lt. Gov. Kathleen Blanco, ex-state Senate President Randy Ewing, Attorney General Richard Ieyoub and ex-U.S. Rep. Buddy Leach.
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