NEW ORLEANS — President Donald Trump returned to Louisiana Thursday to rally support for the Republican challenger in the state's hotly contested governor's race.
It was the president's third trip to Louisiana during the campaign. On paper, the race is between Democratic incumbent John Bel Edwards versus Republican businessman Eddie Rispone. In reality, the race is Rispone and Trump versus Edwards.
In a conservative Louisiana, voters bucked expectations and elected a Democratic governor four years ago, and now the gubernatorial race is testing if they're willing to do it again - or if Trump can flip the seat.
Louisiana is a deep red state, and Trump is considered a lock on its electoral votes in 2020. The governor's mansion should be an easy capture for the GOP in Saturday's runoff election. But the contest has reached its final days as a true tossup.
Louisiana is the last of three Southern governor's races this year - all targets of intense interest from the GOP and Trump. While Republicans kept the seat in Mississippi, they lost Kentucky’s governorship. Now Trump and the GOP have turned to help Rispone in the race's final days.
Rispone, the owner of an industrial contracting firm, has spent millions on the race and hitched his candidacy to Trump and hammered a pro-Trump theme ever since.
“We want to do for Louisiana what Trump has done for the nation,” Rispone said at an event in Baton Rouge.
"What happened since Donald Trump has been elected is that people are starting to realize we can do better if we elect somebody from the outside, a conservative, someone with business skills," Rispone said on WWL-TV Eyewitness Morning News.
Edwards suggests Rispone turns repeatedly to Trump and the national outlook because he can’t stand on the strength of his state-specific issues.
And Edwards isn’t a traditional Democrat in the national mold. He’s a former Army Ranger who opposes abortion, supports gun rights and talks of his solid working relationship with Trump. But he has also had to defend his record against the president who has called him a "radical liberal."
"When it was time to govern, the president invited me nine times to talk about things like transportation, infrastructure, the opioid epidemic, criminal justice reform. He certainly wasn't calling me any of those names at that point in time," Edwards told WWL-TV.
Race watchers say Trump's influence can only stretch so far.
“I don’t think Trump’s bringing more to the table than has already been brought into the campaign,” said Michael Henderson, director of Louisiana State University's Public Policy Research Center.
Edwards supporters say Trump’s visits are actually boosting their own chances, helping to turn out black voters and other Democrats who skipped the primary. In New Orleans and other cities with high concentrations of African American voters, a wave of ads says Rispone’s tight ties with Trump are a reason to vote for Edwards. While Edwards sidesteps direct criticism of the president, the Louisiana Democratic Party posted ads on Facebook declaring: “If Rispone wins, Trump wins” and asking voters to “keep hate out of Louisiana” by supporting Edwards.
The anti-Trump messaging by outside groups and Edwards’ own grassroots outreach effort to black voters appear to be having an effect. African American turnout during the early voting period jumped significantly above primary levels, a critical piece of Edwards’ strategy to win a second term.
The early voting numbers have reportedly sparked concerns about the race's outcome with national Republicans. Politico reported Thursday that the Republican National Committee would be pouring another $1 million into the race in its final two days for turn-out-the-vote efforts.
In addition to enthusiasm among black voters, Edwards also needs crossover support from some Republicans and independents.
To help him meet that benchmark, Edwards is reaching out to backers of Republican U.S. Rep. Ralph Abraham, the primary’s third-place finisher. While Abraham endorsed Rispone, he’s done little publicly to boost Rispone, outside of his attendance at the president’s events. The GOP also is targeting Abraham’s voters, setting both of Trump’s rallies in north Louisiana, where Abraham lives and saw strong support.
Still, pollster Greg Rigamer says the so-called "Trump Effect" is hard to deny.
"[Trump] is very popular among white voters in Louisiana and so he definitely has a positive influence for Rispone. Will it be enough? We'll see," Rigamer said.
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The Associated Press contributed to this report.