Why is the Republican Party of East Baton Rouge such a joke?

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I had no idea that most of the regional politicos skip over EBR Party endorsements and go straight to the state committee.

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Well let's not give the state committee a pass either. Louisiana GOP in any form is terrible. But if you are wondering why the EBR GOP may be talked about in a negative light look no further than Woody Jenkins. To be fair to Woody, he did help get SWB out of office.

I saw where he lets Democrats speak at luncheons. I guess they arent technically party events but that’s sort of weird from a partisan party leader.

This is what happens when the state goes too far in for one party over another. The state group gets lazy since it doesn't have to compete as hard and that theme of laziness filters down to the local groups.

This same thing goes on at the county level of heavily blue states. The only real difference being that the lazier the controlling party gets, the more to the Left it can be moved and that favors progressives (deep blue) while it weakens conservatives.

It’s all of Louisiana really.

It’s like this weird useless clique that doesn’t seem to be interested in being anything but a weird useless clique.

The EBR GOP Parish Executive Committee is run by Woody Jenkins. The PEC doesn’t have much money behind it, so getting their endorsement doesn’t really give you much help. The PEC doesn’t have a great relationship with the Young Republicans or the College Republicans, so it’s not like it can hook endorsed candidates up with a big pool of volunteers.

Basically, all you get is a positive write-up in Woody’s newspapers. Getting the endorsement is often secured by purchasing advertising in Woody’s papers.

Throw in the fact that Woody represents a very specific brand of socially conservative nimbyism, track record for endorsing losing candidates, and you can see how they became completely irrelevant.

The GOP is a big tent, however, with room for people like Woody as well as people like myself. We may sit on opposite sides of the tent, but we are still under it.

I will say, though, that a great indicator in local races for me is that if Woody and I are supporting the same candidate, odds are, they’re going to win the primary and be at least competitive in the general. Because if someone can appeal to both myself and Woody, then they clearly have a very broad appeal.

The state central committee has a little more money and infrastructure behind it to actually help candidates, so that is where they go.

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I saw where he lets Democrats speak at luncheons. I guess they arent technically party events but that’s sort of weird from a partisan party leader.

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All of these OG Republicans are just old school Democrats.