The state Republican Party re-elected Louis Gurvich as its chair after yet another year of squabbling between his faction and a group more closely in the orbit of Eddie Rispone. This time the opposition is accusing Gurvich of verbally abusing a staffer, which is probably true, but also not the real reason they're opposed to his chairmanship.
Gurvich denied the allegations against him. In a speech Saturday, he said the party’s financial problems preceded his election as chairman in 2018 and that Republicans had robust fundraising over the past two months.
He did not directly address the allegations that he had mistreated a former party employee, though in his remarks Saturday, he compared himself with Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, a conservative who was outraged when he found himself being accused of sexual assault after being nominated to the country’s top court.
Several top Republicans in the state have been upset with Gurvich’s leadership. Eddie Rispone, a former gubernatorial candidate and a Republican mega-donor, has openly criticized the party’s leadership on several occasions.
“No one wants to contribute to the party because it’s not run properly,” Rispone said Saturday.
Is the party being "run properly?" Well that depends on a lot of subjective criteria. They do hold both houses of the legislature, both US Senate seats, all but one of Louisiana's US House seats, and every statewide elected office other than Governor. On the other hand, they haven't yet figured out how to divvy up the spoils of all that plunder without being jerks about it.
And that's what these chair elections are all about. See a few years ago, these same factions had it out over whether or not Republican candidates should hire former chairman Roger Villere's consulting firm and how much they should pay him. This year they are at it again, likely over the same sort of territorial grudge, regardless of how they want to explain it.
Taking a stab at Rispone, Gurvich said he wouldn't let a "wealthy businessman wrest control" of the state party and downplayed Bayham's GOP bona fides, saying he consulted for Jay Dardenne, a Republican who serves as Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards' chief budget architect.
Oh yeah you really wouldn't a "wealthy businessman" getting control of the party. That's definitely why you need Louis Gurvich around.
Gurvich’s desire to be the LAGOP’s top leader might seem an unusual move from his weekday responsibilities as president of the Uptown-based New Orleans Private Patrol, but the private security business is in Gurvich’s blood. A third- generation entrepreneur, Gurvich’s family came to Louisiana in the late 1920’s when J. Edgar Hoover, the young director of the Bureau of Intelligence — later known as the FBI — personally transferred Gurvich’s paternal grandfather to the city. Gurvich received multiple degrees in business and law from UNO, Tulane University and Loyola Law School and entered the 87-year-old family business in 1991.
Anyway, now that Gurvich is back, what's next for the state GOP power brokers besides trying to hide all the money from each other?
Acknowledging his narrow victory, Gurvich, who will lead the party through the next election for governor, said the stakes are too great to let to party devolve into infighting.
"We are here to save a country, nothing less, make no mistake. Our enemies are powerful, they are a driven by a Marxists ideology," Gurvich said. "My promise is that I'm here for every one of you."
LOL, your "enemies" are almost entirely out of power in this state and they are driven by a neoliberal ideology of privatization and patronage not too different from your own. But keep that grift up. It's going well for you.
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