Mike Francis for
Secretary of State

  Months ago when interim Secretary of State Al Ater announced he would not be a candidate in the Sept. 30 special election to fill the late Fox McKeithen’s unexpired term, we were more than disappointed. We felt Ater had done an excellent job in running the secretary of state’s office, especially his handling of the election’s process earlier this year in the mayor’s race in New Orleans. We would be remiss, too, if we did not point out that it has been noted by more than one state and federal official that Ater oversaw one of the cleanest elections the Big Easy has witnessed in modern history.
  Though Ater isn’t a candidate in the special election some 10 days from now, we are encouraged that there is an individual in the race who possesses a no-nonsense approach to politics like Ater. We’re also encouraged that the individual in question, Mike Francis of Crowley via LaSalle Parish, isn’t a career politician who has been hanging around the Capitol in Baton Rouge for years.
  No, Francis simply is a man who has made a fortune in the oil business and who got involved in Republican Party politics several years ago. He got involved because he was tired of standing by and watching his party and Louisiana as a whole continue down a road of mediocrity.
  Francis also got involved because he wanted Louisiana to succeed by electing people to public office who wanted a make a difference in Louisiana, a state that has suffered for years because too many of its elected officials served for their own good instead of the good of the citizenry of the state.
  While it has been said jokingly from time to time that the secretary of state is a mere glorified clerk of court, we are reminded that it is the secretary of state who oversees elections in Louisiana. Today, more than ever, Louisiana needs a secretary of state who’s honest and who will conduct himself in a manner in which every Louisianian will know the elections process is being carried out without concern for protecting career politicians and the status quo they represent. It’s that status quo which has enabled Louisiana to rank first in everything bad and last in everything good in economic development, education and honesty and integrity in government.
  With that backdrop in mind, it is more than obvious to us Mike Francis is the candidate the voters in Louisiana should elect secretary of state next Saturday, Sept. 30.

Crowley Post Signal • 602 North Parkerson Avenue • Crowley, LA
Ph: 337-783-3450 • Fax: 337-788-0949