[StBernard] Some colleagues urging Boasso to switch parties

[Westley Annis]

Some colleagues urging Boasso to switch parties
By MICHELLE MILLHOLLON
Advocate Capitol News Bureau 
Published: Apr 19, 2007 - Page: 12A 

One of the few Democrats in the governor's race, Public Service Commissioner
Foster Campbell, may be getting some company.

Republican state Sen. Walter Boasso, who is also running for governor,
acknowledged Wednesday that he is being approached about switching parties.

Boasso said Republican, Democratic and Independent colleagues are talking to
him.

Gov. Kathleen Blanco, a Democrat, is not seeking a second term. Other big
name Democrats, including former U.S. Sen. John Breaux and Lt. Gov. Mitch
Landrieu, also declined to run.

Two Democrats are in the race - Campbell of Bossier Parish and the Rev.
Raymond Brown of New Orleans.

The Republican contenders include U.S. Rep. Bobby Jindal of Kenner and New
Orleans businessman John Georges.

Boasso was noncommittal on whether he will change parties.

"In my 27 years of business, (I've learned) you don't close the door on any
opportunity. So right now, I'm just listening to what people have to say,"
Boasso said in a telephone interview.

It is no secret that Boasso was unhappy when the Republican Party of
Louisiana endorsed Jindal in the Oct. 20 governor's race.

Boasso said the party did not interview him before making its choice.

The Arabi legislator said he was a Democrat for the majority of his life
before switching to the Republican party in the 1990s.

He said his parents were Democrats.

Boasso's father was a disabled electrician. His mother became a
schoolteacher late in life.

Boasso, a self-made businessman, said he got a chance to live the American
dream.

He said he wants to give other Louisiana residents similar opportunities.

"I'm meeting with anybody who's interested in good government. I don't think
there's a Republican way to govern or a Democratic way to govern," Boasso
said.