John Schroder draws first blood in Louisiana governor's race TV ads, skewering Landry, Wags

Republican Treasurer John Schroder is drawing first blood in the Louisiana governor's race TV ad wars, attacking fellow GOP rivals Jeff Landry and Stephen Waguespack as political insiders and associating them with the state's culture of cronyism and corruption with two new 30-second spots.

Schroder, who like the rest of the field is trailing early frontrunner Landry in the Oct. 14 primary election campaign, must peel off some support from Landry and separate himself from other Republicans to either catch Landry or Shawn Wilson, who has consolidated Democratic support in the race.

By taking on Landry, the attorney general, and Waguespack, previously chief of staff for former Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, it's clear that Schroder's team believes those two are his top GOP competition.

The first ad begins with a narrator saying, "Tired of Louisiana corruption and failure," then proceeds to say Landry funneled $420,000 in campaign funds to a company he owns and paid himself $200,000 in annual income.

Then the spot emphasizes Waguespack's ties to Jindal, who was elected twice but was unpopular when he left office. "Waguespack and Jindal wrecked out public universities and our state budget," the narrator says.

The spot ends with the narrator asking if voters are ready for a change with a scene of a blue sky, a happy little girl and Schroder's name in the background.

Schroder's second ad also attacks Landry and Waguespack with the narrator beginning: "Politicians, corruption, failure. It's put Louisiana's economy and schools at the bottom; crime on top."

It continues: "Satisfied? Then vote for political insiders (with images of Landry and Waguespack) or demand change."

"John's got the guts to bring change by fighting for us."

Schroder closes the second spot himself, saying, "As state treasurer I beat the fat cats for you. I'm ready to be your governor to take on government corruption, to take back our streets and to fight for first-class schools."

Schroder's campaign said the ads will begin running on broadcast and cable TV Tuesday beginning in the New Orleans and Monroe markets. It's the first phase of a $1.5 million ad buy of which $1.3 will be spent on TV and the balance on radio through Election Day.

State Sen. Sharon Hewitt and state Rep. Richard Nelson are the other two major Republicans in the race, while conservative independent attorney Hunter Lundy is also a factor.

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More: Could Republican Jeff Landry win Louisiana governor's race outright in jungle primary?

Greg Hilburn covers state politics for the USA TODAY Network of Louisiana. Follow him on Twitter @GregHilburn1. 

This article originally appeared on Shreveport Times: John Schroder draws first blood in Louisiana governor race TV attack ads