[StBernard] Henke Withdraws from Ins Race and Endorses James David Cain

[Westley Annis]

Statement from Deanne Henke:

"Our state is facing an insurance crisis, and we cannot afford to continue
down the path we are currently following.

Traveling the state, I have been disturbed by the magnitude of the
challenges we face.  After forums and debates with the other candidates in
this race, three things have become clear to me:

1)The current, un-elected, Commissioner is not part of the solution; he is
part of the problem. Every day of this race, more of his past has come to
light. It has become clear that he views taxpayer dollars and political
perks as an entitlement, and that he is more interested in maintaining his
comfortable status quo than tackling the challenges of our state.

2) The candidate that will win on September 30th will be the one with the
resources to spread their message, gather support, and turnout the vote.
Without abandoning my principled position and accepting money from insurance
interests, it has not been possible for me to raise the necessary funds to
wage a successful race.

3) As Chairman of the Senate Insurance Committee, James David Cain shares my
vision of change, and has been blocked in his legislative attempts to
implement reform by an obstinate Department of Insurance. In debate after
debate, we have both agreed on the need to implement comprehensive ethics
reform, restore accountability to the ratings process, and fight for
catastrophic protection.

 My greatest fear is not that I would lose on September 30th, but that the
effort to bring change to Louisiana would fail.  The future of Louisiana has
always been more important than my own personal ambition.  Therefore, in an
effort to unify the proponents of change in our state, I have decided to
remove my name from consideration in the race and to support Senator James
David Cain," concluded Henke.


"On September 30th Louisiana faces a critical question: Do we want to
continue the same dangerous path with Jim Donelon, or are we ready for
change?' she added.