Former four-term Louisiana governor Edwin Edwards passed away this morning. Edwards legendary race against former KKK Grand Wizard David Duke captivated the nation in 1991. Advocate reporter Tyler Bridges covered “The Race from Hell” extensively. He says Edwards leaned into allegations of corruption against him with an unofficial campaign slogan of “vote for the crook, it’s Important”.
Edwards won that race 61 to 39 percent.
Edwards was released from prison in 2011 and always maintained his innocence. He certainly had his critics, as he was tried three times on federal charges. In his 2011 interview with Jim Engster, Edwards talked about what will happen to him when he passes away…
Edwards was 93.
Edwards’ biographer Leo Honeycutt says the Cajun Prince died peacefully this morning at his home in Gonzales with family and friends at his bedside. Honeycutt says last Monday Edwards placed himself in hospice care.
Honeycutt wrote a best-selling biography on Edwin Edwards’s life that was released in 2009. Funeral arrangements are pending.
The state health department reports 24-hundred new COVID cases in the state since last Friday. Hospitalizations are up to 410 now and 8 new deaths from the virus have been notated. Last week the health department said the delta variant is steadily increasing in the state and the majority of the new cases and hospitalizations are among unvaccinated individuals. LDH says 27-percent of the new cases were among adults ages 18 to 29.