Lt. governor's race lacks a spark- Hopefuls try to stir interest
by Mike Hasten - The Daily Advertiser (excerpt)

BATON ROUGE — Candidates for lieutenant governor are making their final pitches for votes this week as the race enters the final stretch before the Oct. 2 primary election. A runoff between the top two finishers is possible with eight candidates — five Republicans and three Democrats — competing for the lieutenant governor's job, which pays $115,000 a year.

But more than the money could be the opportunity to be governor, should Gov. Bobby Jindal opt to run for federal office in 2012. Jindal says he's not. A shortage of money is plaguing all campaigns and some candidates haven't even collected enough to make a dent beyond previous name recognition. "It's a low-profile election," says pollster Bernie Pinsonat of Southern Media and Opinion Research. "When there's not a lot of money being spent, probably 60 percent of Louisianans don't know there's an election." He said that was evident in the congressional primaries.

The statewide poll demonstrated a lack of interest in the race because 47 percent of the respondents were undecided on whom they would support.