New Orleans' Democratic Representative-elect Cedric Richmond
Cedric Richmond, the Democratic Representative-elect from New Orleans [Louisiana's 2nd Congressional District], is either a scoundrel or a superstar. Those who dislike Richmond dislike him with a white hot intensity. NOLA.com, the web presence of New Orleans' famous Times Picayune newspaper, gives him favorable reviews.
Representative-elect Richmond caught my attention because he is the first Democrat in the current season, when I began paying attention to these things, who is having a Debt Retirement Party.
It's not that I am against retiring debt. Put the debt on display, we have campaign finance reports filed with the FEC and we have OpenSecrets.org compiling that data. If you're going to haul off and have a fundraiser to retire your debt, then show us the debt. Richmond qualifies by showing debt.
Richmond is reporting that his campaign raised $894,227, spent $772,099, has cash on hand in the amount of $120,026. Richmond shows debt of $170,631. See, http://www.opensecrets.org/politicians/summary.php?cid=N00030184&newMem=Y
This fundraiser is scheduled for Zea's Restaurant in New Orleans. It will be a lunch on December 7th, according to the Sunlight Foundations's Party Time. http://politicalpartytime.org/party/24076/#invite. That's refreshing, a politician having a fundraiser in his own district. Zea's of course is a Louisiana treasure with locations throughout the state and in Alabama and Texas.
It looks like the Political Development Group is managing the event for Richmond. The Political Development Group has filled the niche for other Democrats including Missouri's Russ Carnahan, New Mexico's Marin Heinrich, and Colorado's cartwheel turning Ed Perlmutter. Perlmutter was supposed to be in a squeaker with Republican Ryan Frazier in Campaign 2010. Upon winning decisively, Perlmutter celebrated with cartwheels.
The suggested contributions for lunch a Zea's with Representative-elect Richmond seem standard $5000 for a Host, $2,500 for a Sponsor, and $500 for a Guest. The checks are to be made payable to the Richmond for Congress Committee and sent to Political Development Group's D.C. address.
One note about the Political Development Group. They seem to have their eye on the ball. What's left of campaign finance law sets limits on how much a person can legally give a candidate for a given election cycle. PDG keeps it clean by directing contributors to the General Election Debt. Nice clean accounting keeps everyone out of trouble. Good job PDG.
Richmond defeated one term Republican Joseph Cao. Democratic Representative Charlie Melancon was bested by Republican Senator David Vitter, proving that Republicans don't give a rat's petunia about family values. The Melancon seat, Louisiana's 3rd District went to Republican Jeff Landry. Cedric Richmond is the lone Democrat in the Louisiana delegation.
Richmond is the only Democratic candidate in Campaign 2010 for whom President Obama cut a television commercial. Richmond, who plays basketball, will be an important asset for New Orleans with his inside track to the White House.
Richmond goes to Washington with legislative experience under his belt in Baton Rouge. You can make odds that Richmond, who lambasted Cao for being a back bencher will make his presence known on the Hill.
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