As we’ve reported, LCS Corrections co-owner Patrick LeBlanc was running for state representative for Louisiana House District 43. LeBlanc lost Saturday's election and the ongoing scandal over Texas commissary and detention contracts may have influenced the eleection. According to the Daily Advertiser:
The involvement of his opponent's company in a Texas jail contract investigation may have helped Page Cortez capture the House District 43 race in Saturday's election.
Complete but unofficial returns show Cortez, R-Lafayette, with 7,742 or 55 percent of the vote and Patrick LeBlanc, R-Youngsville, with 6,218 or 45 percent.
As Nicole wrote last month, now-indicted former Bexar County Sheriff and his longtime campaign manager John Reynolds are accused of receiving money and a Costa Rica golf trip in exchange for awarding Premier Management, another comany owned by LeBlanc and his brother, the commissary contract at the Bexar County jail.
Reynolds plead guilty to a charge of felony theft, and must speak openly about his dealings with Premier, the LeBlanc Brothers, and LCS Corrections as part of the plea deal. The scandal is threatening to spill over into Kleberg and Nueces Counties where Premier and LCS have been cultivating close relationships with county officials.
The scandal became an issue for LeBlanc in the race for state house. According to The Advocate, his opponents used the issue in political advertisements:
LeBlanc, an architect who is in the private prison business, is running for the District 43 seat against Page Cortez, who co-owns a furniture store. Both men are Republicans.
Cortez is supported by state Sen. Mike Michot, R-Lafayette and state Rep. Joel Robideaux, I-Lafayette, who have formed a political action committee called Leadership for Louisiana. LeBlanc’s company, Premier Management Enterprise, gave money to a phony charity run by the sheriff’s associate, who made sure Premier was awarded a commissary contract.
The sheriff eventually pleaded guilty to not reporting a fishing and golf trip in Costa Rica that LeBlanc’s company paid for. While the San Antonio District Attorney’s Office has announced its work is finished, federal authorities have said they are continuing to investigate the matter — though they have not named any targets of the investigation, including LeBlanc or his company.
One of Leadership for Louisiana’s ads says that voting for LeBlanc is a “risk,” with the investigation still ongoing.
Local journalists also asked tough questions. Lafayette’s The Independent ran a front-page story on Mr. LeBlanc’s candidacy and private prison and commissary connections. The story, by reporter Scott Jordan, started out by noting that the run may have been LeBlanc’s first foray running for office, but he’s far from a stranger to politics:
It’s LeBlanc’s first run for elected office, but the 53-year-old architect and co-owner of private prison firm LCS Corrections (whose predecessor is Gulf Coast Corrections, Inc.) is no stranger to politics. LeBlanc’s enterprises — LCS and Premier Management — have secured contracts with government agencies for at least 10 years.
The firm has been awarded contracts in states including Louisiana and Texas. In addition to the prison system contracts, LeBlanc is a longtime behind-the-scenes force on the local political scene. He’s contributed funds to multiple candidates over the years, most recently hosting a 2005 fund-raiser for U.S. Rep. Charles Boustany attended by Vice President Dick Cheney, and he recently contributed $4,600 to Republican presidential hopeful Rudy Giuliani.
In December 2006, LeBlanc mailed out an eight-page survey gauging local residents’ opinions on local, state and national candidates, fueling speculation that he was gearing up for a bid for office.
The paper then dove into LeBlanc’s rocky relationship with the media:
Public enemy No. 1 for Patrick LeBlanc is the San Antonio Express-News, which first reported on the Bexar County investigation in December 2005. LeBlanc filed a lawsuit against the San Antonio newspaper in 2006 alleging that it libeled him, and the suit is still pending. (A clerk at the San Antonio courthouse said last week that there has been no activity regarding the lawsuit for a year.)
The Express-News has continued its coverage of the Premier Management/Bexar County ties, and in mid-September 2007 also reported that a sheriff in Kleberg County gave Premier a contract to run its jail commissary and received consulting fees from Premier Management.
The most recent Express-News reports were picked up and commented on by the San Antonio Lightning online newspaper, which Lightning Publisher/Editor RG Griffing describes as “conservative, but we’re also muckrakers. We think that’s a lofty thing to be.”
Last month, Griffing called LeBlanc’s Lafayette campaign headquarters to speak with him. LeBlanc, through campaign worker Judy Keller, refused to comment. During the telephone call, Griffing asks Keller if LeBlanc plans to sue him, too. Griffing then later posted a recording of the phone call on the Lightning’s Web site.
LeBlanc was weary to engage The Independent, what with its critical reporting of his connection to the Bexar County/Premier scandal. If it could land an interview with Patrick LeBlanc, what would it ask?
- What’s your primary motivation for running for District 43 state rep?
- What are the primary differences between yourself and Page Cortez?
- You say you’re pro-life, but you’ve been one of the biggest local supporters of the Rudy Giuliani campaign, and Giuliani has a long record of being pro-choice. How do you reconcile that dichotomy?
- What specifically did the San Antonio Express-News write that caused you to sue the newspaper for libel?
- You’ve been in the private prison business for more than 20 years. Why did Premier pay consulting fees to the Kleberg County sheriff and Bexar County Sheriff Ralph Lopez’s campaign manager?
- Former Premier employee Ian Williamson left the company in late 2006. Why did he leave, and why did he call Bexar County’s Reynolds in spring 2007 after he left Premier, asking for receipts for donations Premier made to his charities?
- How can you assure District 43 voters that the ongoing investigation in Bexar County would not distract from your legislative duties if you are elected?
We’ll keep following this story.
Our previous of LCS, Premier Management, and the Bexar County scandal:
- Sheriff’s Confidant Pleads Guilty in Bexar County Premier Management Scandal
- A Closer Look at LCS Corrections
- Premier Private Commissary Scandal Keeps Growing
- Bexar County Sheriff Indicted
- Private Commissary Contracts Lead to Corruption in Bexar County