The Failure of Louisiana Campaign Finance Law: a Case Study of Brnext and the 2004 Baton Rouge Mayoral Election

Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Master's Theses Graduate School 2007 The aiF lure of Louisiana Campaign Finance Law: A Case Study of BRNext and the 2004 Mayoral Election Casey Elizabeth Rayborn Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses Part of the Mass Communication Commons Recommended Citation Rayborn, Casey Elizabeth, "The aiF lure of Louisiana Campaign Finance Law: A Case Study of BRNext and the 2004 Mayoral Election" (2007). LSU Master's Theses. 1357. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_theses/1357 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Master's Theses by an authorized graduate school editor of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE FAILURE OF LOUISIANA CAMPAIGN FINANCE LAW: A CASE STUDY OF BRNEXT AND THE 2004 BATON ROUGE MAYORAL ELECTION A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Mass Communication in The Manship School of Mass Communication by Casey Elizabeth Rayborn B.A., Louisiana State University, May 2003 August 2007 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First and foremost, I want to thank God for blessing me in so many ways and for being my foundation I can stand firm on. I would like to thank my chair Dr. Emily Erickson for her guidance, support, and enthusiasm throughout this project, and my committee members Dr. Robert K. Goidel, Mr. Jay Perkins, and Dr. Anne Osborne for their help in this project. To Dr. John Maxwell Hamilton for giving me the opportunity to work with him, and for giving me his support and guidance. And to all of the Manship faculty and staff for their continued guidance and support. Also, my colleagues in the Manship School need special acknowledgement. Your friendship, your support, and your encouragement have helped me along the way and have made this a memorable experience. To my parents, Herman Rayborn and Paula Moore, thank you for always believing in me, encouraging me, and loving me. None of this would have been possible without your love and support. And to all my family, thank you for always standing by me and letting me know you believe in me. And last, but definitely not least, I want to thank my husband, Chris, for his continued support and belief in me, and for putting up with me through all of this. You are truly a gift from God. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS<.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<...<<<<<<<..<<<<<<...ii ABSTRACT.<<..<<<<..<<<.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.......iv INTRODUCTION<<<<.<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<...<<<<<..<<<<.<<...1 TWO COMPETING CONSTITUTIONAL INTERESTS<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.<.<5 Free Speech v. Political Integrity of the Electoral Process<<<<<<.<..5 The Courts’ Debate<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<..<.8 THE CAMPAIGN FINANCE DEBATE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.<13 Key Components of Federal Campaign Finance Law<<<<<<<<...13 Other Campaign Finance ‚Battlegrounds‛<<<<<<<<<<<<.....18 Louisiana Law<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.22 BRNEXT AND THE 2004 MAYORAL RACE<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<...27 WHAT BRNEXT MEANS FOR DEMOCRACY<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<..<<<..35 BRNext: Behind the Image<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.35 BRNext and Democracy<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.46 Protecting the Future of Democracy<<<<<<<<<<<<..<<<..55 REFERENCES<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.60 VITA<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<.65 iii ABSTRACT This thesis is a case study in how weak campaign finance laws and government oversight can undermine democracy in a local election. It does so by demonstrating how Louisiana campaign finance law enabled one wealthy businessman to play a major role in a mayoral election under the auspices of an issue-based political action committee. Through the examination of the Louisiana PAC BRNext, its financial activities, and its relationships, this study suggests that BRNext and its founder Lane Grigsby were able to violate the spirit of the law in each of these areas. BRNext was able to take advantage of the loophole-ridden and vague Louisiana campaign finance law, opening the electoral process up to the possibility for corruption. After discussing how this mayoral election illustrates the failure of Louisiana’s legal frameworks to achieve core goals of campaign finance law, this study makes suggestions for adapting policy by taking into account new political actors and new routes for spending. iv INTRODUCTION The 2004 Baton Rouge mayoral race was entrenched in controversy across party and racial lines. Following the primary, Melvin ‚Kip‛ Holden (D), an African- American, and Bobby Simpson (R), the white incumbent mayor in a predominantly black city, faced each other in a runoff, a rematch of the 2000 mayoral election. This time, however, the local political action committee (PAC) BRNext was in Holden’s corner. On election day, in a landmark victory, Holden won with more than 55 percent of the vote, a jump up from the 43 percent he received in 2000.1 And in unseating Simpson, Holden became the first African-American mayor of Baton Rouge. What changed from the 2000 election? Researchers, journalists, and even the defeated Simpson all credited BRNext with making the difference. BRNext appeared after the general election, broadcasting a series of television advertisements and presenting itself as an issue-based group and a community coalition for change. Many of its initial advertisements supported this claim, focusing on general issues like crime and traffic. Closer to the run-off, however, the PAC began airing attack ads against Simpson. During and following the election, many people behind the scenes questioned the legitimacy of BRNext, its sources of funding, and its intentions.2 A closer look at BRNext suggests that, rather than operating as a grassroots organization comprised of community members, it was actually a campaign waged and bankrolled by one man, 1 Scott Dyer, Clean Campaign Vowed BRNext to Continue Ad Plan, THE ADVOCATE, September 20, 2004. 2 Interview with George Kennedy, Media Consultant, BRNext, in Baton Rouge, La. (April 22, 2005). Kennedy said, ‚Yeah, people were suspicious of BRNext. Louisiana blogs buzzed about Grigsby and who else was behind the group.‛ 1 Lane Grigsby, and his corporations—corporations whose business interests were affected considerably by those in office. Did this landmark election reflect an open, fair, and equitable democracy at work or was it a reflection of money’s corrupting power in politics? Was Grigsby exercising his right to free speech or was he using his corporate wealth to dominate the political discourse in the 2004 mayor’s race? Evidence suggests the latter. To determine whether money has a corrupting influence on politics and whether campaign finance laws are beneficial, scholars have conducted broad quantitative studies.3 These studies focus primarily on the use of money in congressional elections,4 voter turnout in relation to campaign spending,5 and public funding of electoral campaigns.6 In terms of qualitative analysis there is no shortage of anecdotal case studies, however, there are very few qualitative case studies in terms of systematic academic studies.7 Such case studies offer an opportunity for in-depth examination of 3 DAVID W. ADAMANY & GEORGE E. AGREE, POLITICAL MONEY: A STRATEGY FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCING IN AMERICA (1975); Ruth Jones, State Public Campaign Finance: Implications for Partisan Politics, 25 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 342 (1981); Karen J. Fling, The State as Laboratories of Reform. In POLITICAL FINANCE 245(Herbert E. Alexander ed., 1979); Ruth S. Jones, Financing State Elections, in MONEY AND POLITICS IN THE UNITED STATES 172 (Michael J. Malbin ed., 1984); David C. Nice, Political Equality and Campaign Finance in the American States, 65 SOCIAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY 183 (1984). 4 Karen J. Fling, The State as Laboratories of Reform. In POLITICAL FINANCE 245(Herbert E. Alexander ed., 1979); Ruth S. Jones, Financing State Elections, in MONEY AND POLITICS IN THE UNITED STATES 172 (Michael J. Malbin ed., 1984); David C. Nice, Political Equality and Campaign Finance in the American States, 65 SOCIAL SCIENCE QUARTERLY 183 (1984). GARY C. JACOBSON, MONEY IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS (1980); Stanton A. Glantz, Alan I. Abramowitz, & Michael P. Burkart, Election Outcomes: Whose Money Matters?, 38 JOURNAL OF POLITICS 1033 (1976). 5 Samuel C. Patterson & Gregory A. Caldeira, Getting out the vote: participation in Gubernatorial Elections, 77 AMERICAN POLITICAL SCIENCE REVIEW 675 (1983). 6 DAVID W. ADAMANY & GEORGE E. AGREE, POLITICAL MONEY: A STRATEGY FOR CAMPAIGN FINANCING IN AMERICA (1975); Ruth Jones, State Public Campaign Finance: Implications for Partisan Politics, 25 AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE 342 (1981). 7 Robert J. Huckshorn, Who Gave it? Who Got It?: The Enforcement of Campaign Finance Laws in the States, 47 JOURNAL OF POLITICS 773 (1985); GARY C. JACOBSON, MONEY IN CONGRESSIONAL ELECTIONS (1980); Stanton 2 the competing constitutional interests of political speech and the political integrity of the electoral process. Political speech as a First Amendment right has been examined in terms of federal law quite a bit.8 Little has been done in terms of examining this speech on the state level, and even less has been done on the local level.9 This study looks at the financial hijacking of the 2004 Baton Rouge mayoral

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