Thoughts on rushed constitutional convention in La? Looks like voters don’t really want it

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Only 1% of voters said getting a new constitution ought to be one of the governor’s top goals, the poll showed. Seven other issues were ranked more important by voters.

While Landry is popular overall, voters give him middling marks on how he has handled the writing of a new constitution, with 27% approving and 29% disapproving.

Landry, backed by conservative megadonor Lane Grigsby, is lobbying legislators to call the convention and promoted the plan recently in a press conference and radio appearances.

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Critics have repeatedly said that Landry and the plan’s supporters are moving too quickly. They note that voters adopted the current state constitution in 1974 after a three-year process that began when Edwin Edwards ran for governor in 1971-72. Elections were then held to elect 105 delegates to the convention, one per House district. Those elected were a mixture of state legislators and people from various walks of life. The delegates spent 1973 debating and writing the constitution, and voters approved it in 1974.

Landry is taking a very different path this time.

He barely mentioned the need for a new constitution when he ran for governor last year. The measure that would convene the constitution, House Bill 800, calls for the 144 House and Senate members to serve as delegates, along with 27 mostly conservative delegates appointed by the governor, or 171 total.

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