[StBernard] Local Steps Up to Challenge Incumbent in District 104 House of Representatives Race

[Westley Annis]

Local Steps Up to Challenge Incumbent in District 104 House of
Representatives Race

Vows To End Politics As Usual and Speed Up the Pace of Recovery

Meraux resident, James Ludwig, Jr., announced today that he will challenge
Representative Nita Hutter for the Louisiana House of Representatives in
District 104.  Ludwig announced that his campaign will focus on lowering
property insurance rates and speeding up the pace of recovery in the region.

Ludwig graduated from Loyola Law School and briefly worked for an insurance
defense law firm in New Orleans.  However, realizing that he could be a
bigger part of the recovery efforts, he left the firm and took a job with a
consulting firm that is working to rebuild public schools in the region.  On
a daily basis, he works with federal and state recovery agencies to ensure
that recovery funds reach their targets as quickly as possible.  

Reflecting on the past year, Ludwig said that, "I realized that insurance
companies were the first to collect premiums, but the last to pay their
claims.  I couldn't represent them anymore.  I needed a change.  I wanted to
make a difference.  Now, I work closely with FEMA and the State to bring aid
to the schools that desperately need it.  I have seen that with conversation
and compromise we can accomplish so much more than with silence and
argument."

Touting his recovery-work experience, Ludwig said, "there isn't a candidate
out there that is going to know the recovery processes like I do.  This is
what I do for a living, I ensure that federal and state funds get drawn down
and put into the community as quickly as possible."    
Commenting on the race, he noted that, "It's time to put the people and
businesses of St. Bernard first.  That means getting federal and state aid
to the community faster and working even harder to offer real solutions that
will lower property insurance rates.  It's been two years since Hurricane
Katrina and recovery is still moving at a snails pace.  It's time for those
politicians who have failed to address our problems in the past two years to
be sent home.  Continuity of leadership isn't vital if that leadership is
ineffective.  We need to send leaders with new energy and vision to Baton
Rouge.  Leaders who will fight for what the people of District 104 deserve."


Ludwig will formally kickoff his campaign in mid August, with a community
gathering followed by a walking tour of every neighborhood in District 104.