He spent the last three years essentially fundraising," said Joshua Stockley, an assistant professor of political science at the University of Louisiana-Monroe who closely follows state politics. "I think personally it would be a waste of time or resources for anybody to run against him at this point.
Democratic Party leaders acknowledge the difficult playing field, but said there is still time to make the race competitive. "Without getting into names, I do know some folks are talking it over with their families over the holidays," said Renee Lapeyrolerie.
Jindal had $7.2 million in his campaign account as of last February, and has been criss-crossing the country in recent months collecting more. It would surprise few observers if he had more than $10 million in the bank when the next disclosure reports. Jindal spent just over $11 million to win the office four years ago in an election year when two self-financed candidates, John Georges and Walter Boasso, spent $12 million and $7 million, respectively. Four years earlier, Jindal and his Democratic runoff opponent, Kathleen Blanco, spent less than $10 million between them.
Democratic Party during Blanco's term and has often flirted with running in the past. The founder and chief executive of one of Louisiana's two Fortune 500 companies, Bernhard has been an outspoken advocate for higher education, a topic likely to be front-and-center in the coming budget debate.
Bobby Jindal is the best politician that Louisiana's ever seen. And that's not a compliment," said Sen. Joe McPherson, D-Woodworth, a vocal Jindal opponent in the Legislature. "With the tremendous war chest he has, and even though he's slipping fairly fast in the polls, I don't think it will catch up with him in time for somebody to wage a credible campaign against him.
That's when incumbent President George H.W. Bush had job-approval ratings approaching 90 percent just 20 months before an election where he ultimately won just 38 percent of the popular vote.
We always run like we're behind. We never take anything for granted," Jindal said. "The best way for me to earn the chance to be governor for the next four years is not to worry about polls, not to worry about who my opponent may be, or to worry about anything in the political department.
That's a 13-point drop since April 2009 and 22 points down from his peak after taking office.
While the governor is at the top of the ticket, voters also will be choosing a lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner and treasurer. All but one of those offices are now held by Republicans. Every seat in the state House and Senate also will be up for grabs, and Lapeyrolerie said the party will pay particular attention to capturing the seats held by the Democrats who recently switched to the GOP.
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