Louisiana Political History Takes Center Stage at the Old Governor's Mansion

Former Louisiana Lieutenant Governor Jay Dardenne joined the show to promote his upcoming free history lecture, "After Huey: The Elusive Road to Reform," happening this Thursday at 5:30 PM at the Old Governor's Mansion. Dardenne will explore the legacy of Huey Long’s political successors, specifically highlighting how his brother Earl Long and various "reform" governors shaped the state's turbulent political landscape. He shared a staggering statistic noting that an immediate member of the Long family served continuously in state or federal office for 72 consecutive years, from 1948 until 2020. Dardenne also traced the massive shift in Louisiana's modern voter demographics, pointing out that registered Republicans have now officially outnumbered Democrats for the first time in state history. Finally, the conversation teased Louisiana’s booming film history, a nod to Dardenne's own legacy of co-authoring the state's original motion picture tax incentive legislation.