BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards officially kicked off his re-election bid with an online video that not only touts his performance, but also warns he'll be a target of multimillion-dollar attack campaigns.
Edwards is seeking a second term as the only Democratic governor in the Deep South. He faces two Republican challengers on the Oct. 12 ballot: U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham and businessman Eddie Rispone, a long-time GOP donor.
In the video released Tuesday, Edwards returns to a theme that is central to his campaign, saying Louisiana is better off than when he took office in 2016. He says the state's budget has stabilized through taxes passed and the uninsured rate has fallen under Medicaid expansion.
Republicans say Edwards taxed state residents too heavily and the Medicaid growth is unsustainable.
