Opponents of Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell are calling his re-election campaign ugly.
Beau Tidwell of the Louisiana Democratic Party, in an interview with the Louisiana Record, said Caldwell, a former Democrat who became a Republican, has lied about his opponents and needs to be voted out of office.
“To have the top lawyer in the state showing a blatant disregard for basic facts while he’s ranting to reporters is a sorry sight,” Tidwell told the Record. “He faces challenges from across the political spectrum, which isn’t too surprising considering he’s moved between parties when he found it convenient.”
Tidwell was referring an interview Caldwell did with the News Star, in which he was quoted as saying only one case has ever been tried between his four opponents.
“None of them have the qualifications for me to hire them as an assistant, much less to replace me as attorney general,” the News Star quotes Caldwell as saying.
“That is blatantly untrue,” Tidwell said to the Louisiana Record. “It’s a lazy, sloppy disregard for the truth–and for his constituents.”
The Louisiana Democratic Party backs Geri Broussard Baloney in the race for attorney general. She has prosecuted hundreds of civil and criminal cases over the last 20 years, including several in federal court, according to the party.
Caldwell also has been accused of nepotism. Jeff Landry’s campaign says there’s a history of Caldwell using what it calls the “buddy system” to appoint cases to his attorney friends, paying them state money to try cases, rather than using in-house staff.
“The Louisiana Democratic Party believes Louisiana voters deserve an attorney general with the capacity to judge people and cases on their merits, not political expediency,” Tidwell said.
Early voting continues through Oct. 17. The election is scheduled Oct. 24.