Jamie Davis says national Democratic money could have changed Louisiana race

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Democrat Jamie Davis, who lost to Republican Rep. Julia Letlow by about 25,000 votes, or less than 2%, said money from the National Democratic Party would have “taken us over the top.” The national party did not put funds into his campaign.

Davis said that even Democrats told him early on, “You don’t have a snowball chance in hell of winning.” He described himself as a farmer who plants a seed every year to harvest it.

“I just didn’t know that the harvest would be just a little short,” Davis said.

National party funding

Asked whether the national Democratic Party’s money was a factor, Davis said the same would have been true if the party had invested in Louisiana as it did in Mississippi and Florida.

“That fertilizer would’ve been just the same if the National Democratic Party invested the same money in Louisiana that they did in Mississippi and in Florida, that $3 million that were injected into Angie’s and Scott’s races,” Davis said. “If they did it in Louisiana, it would’ve taken us over the top.”

By 8 p.m. on Election Day, as results began to come in, Letlow had raised $7 million to Davis’ $5 million. The national party did not put any funds into Davis’ campaign despite months of talks with Senate Democratic leadership and advocacy from Rep. Troy Carter.

Davis said his team found that about 35% to 40% of Louisiana voters “voted, but they still didn’t know who Jamie Davis was.”

AI ad

Davis said he could have used extra money to respond to an ad that was released right after early voting ended. The ad portrayed Davis using artificial intelligence.

Davis said the ad’s bullet points about his stances were false.

“Every single one of them were lies, so you answer that AI commercial with another commercial immediately, and then you inject money into the streets by knocking doors,” Davis said.

Strategist and professor weigh in

Mary Patricia Wray, a political strategist who helped elect Democrat John Bel Edwards governor, said door-knocking is costly in Louisiana.

“Knocking on doors cost a lot of money in Louisiana,” Wray said.

Wray said it would have taken about $3 million to $5 million to give Davis an edge. That money was being held by the national party to flip a seat like Texas.

Wray said spending on text messages and mail for voters without a strong voting history is “a very risky investment.”

Dr. Robert Hogan, chair of the political science department at LSU, said parties need resources in place when a national wave happens.

“No one can anticipate this kind of blue wave nationally, but when it happens, you need to have your resources in place and you need to be ready to go,” Hogan said. “It seems like the Democrats did not have their resources invested in a way that would maximize the benefit for Louisiana candidates, especially for Jamie Davis.”

Hogan said heavy Democratic spending in Louisiana could have prompted a response from Republicans.

“Had Democrats decided to spend heavily here, I think you would have seen a counter mobilization from the Republicans, and that may have countered some of the efforts the Democrats were making,” Hogan said.

Republican spending

Senate Republicans put $62,000 into Letlow’s campaign. The seat was considered an easy win for her.

Derek Babcock, the state Republican Party chair, said the Republican National Committee provided little help in Louisiana.

“The RNC hadn’t really provided much help to us, and I did make some phone calls,” Babcock said. “They were focused on some closer races in other states, and so we didn’t get any RNC help really either.”

Babcock said he does not think additional money would have changed the outcome.

Davis looks ahead

Davis teased a bid for governor next year.

“We have 720,000 reasons that we should stay involved, not feel defeated in any kind of way,” Davis said. “We gave him hell and will give ‘em hell again.”

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