A TV ad campaign launched by the Republican Governors Association blasts the sole Democrat running for Louisiana governor, former state Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson, for alleged failures to make infrastructure repairs.
The 30-second ad funded by the RGA’s Right Direction political action committee blames Wilson for the state coming in nearly last in a state-by-state infrastructure ranking and accumulating an $18 billion backlog of repairs to roads, bridges and other facilities on his watch.
““In the nearly eight years that Shawn Wilson was in charge of the Louisiana Department of Transportation, Louisiana’s infrastructure got worse, not better,” the RGA’s spokeswoman, Courtney Alexander, said in a prepared statement. “Adding to his failure, under Wilson’s watch Louisiana has reached an $18 billion backlog in needed repairs, costing Louisiana drivers an extra $650 a year in car repairs.”
The American Society of Civil engineers (ASCE) gave Louisiana a “D-plus” grade for the shape of its infrastructure in 2021.
“Our infrastructure is poorly maintained, inadequately funded and not designed to meet tomorrow’s demands,” the ASCE report said. “Consequently, the state is at a disadvantage and will continue to lose its economic competitiveness.”
And earlier this year, a U.S. News report ranked the state 49th among the 50 states based on the state of its infrastructure.
Wilson’s campaign, however, accused the RGA of lying about his record and spending millions of dollars to distract the public from infighting among the Republican candidates for governor. Wilson is the only Democrat in the race, meaning he is likely to earn a spot in a runoff later this year against the top Republican vote-getter.
“There’s only one candidate in the race with a proven record of building bridges by bringing people together to solve the very real challenges facing our state, and that is Dr. Shawn Wilson, who successfully led a $5.5 billion investment into more than 7,000 miles of improvements across Louisiana – reconnecting our communities and creating thousands of good-paying construction jobs,” Wilson’s campaign manager, Brandin Campbell, said in a statement emailed to the Louisiana Record.
Investments in 2,230 projects were accomplished during Wilson's tenure as secretary, according to Wilson’s campaign.
Among the projects highlighted by the Wilson campaign are $269 million in improvements and the addition of a lane in each direction along Interstate-10 between Interstate-49 and the Atchafalaya Basin, as well as the I-10 widening project in Baton Rouge and the successful dredging of the Mississippi River from Baton Rouge to the river’s mouth.