Elton Lagasse attack ad against Mike Yenni
Just when it feels like Louisiana politics is becoming a little too normal, the race to run Jefferson Parish, the second-largest in the state, comes along. Parish Councilman Elton Lagasse faces Kenner Mayor Mike Yenni, a fellow Republican, in the October 24 jungle primary in suburban New Orleans, and Lagasse is out with ads attacking Yenni's decision to legally adopt his mother's maiden name.
Yenni was born Michael Maunoir, but he took his mother's maiden name after his parents divorced in 1998, when Yenni was in his early 20s. But Yenni's critics have long argued that Yenni made his choice to take advantage of his mother's family name: His grandfather, Joe Yenni, was parish president in the 1980s, and the candidate's late uncle, Michael J. Yenni, succeeded him.
Lagasse is out with two spots about this controversy. It gets a little tricky: The first stars the widow of Michael J. Yenni (that's the uncle), who argues that her son—who is also named Michael Yenni—is the real Mike Yenni, while the guy running for office isn't. A narrator then cuts in and says that Yenni's name change was facilitated by Aaron Broussard, another former parish president who is currently in prison for corruption. Lagasse's second ad features a narrator claiming that even as a child, Michael Maunoir wanted power, and he changed his name to get it, disrespecting his family legacy. The spot also repeats the charge that Broussard helped him make the switch.
We saw a similar controversy last year in the Democratic primary for Arizona's 7th Congressional District. Now-Rep. Ruben Gallego was born "Ruben Marinelarena," and he legally adopted his mother's maiden name before he started his political career. Gallego's opponent, Mary Rose Wilcox, backed an unsuccessful lawsuit that would have either thrown Gallego off the ballot or forced him to appear as Ruben Marinelarena.
Gallego had always maintained that he'd changed his name to honor his mother, who raised him and his three siblings, rather than his father, who left the family when Gallego was young. Yenni is running his own commercial with a similar pitch: Yenni speaks to the camera and tells the viewer that after the divorce, he lived with his mother and decided to take her name. Yenni then says his achievements are about him, not his last name.
Last year, Rose Wilcox's gambit only earned her a 48-36 defeat. A recent poll from JMC Analytics and Polling gave Yenni a 32-18 lead, but with a whopping 44 percent undecided. A few minor candidates are running and it's possible that no one will take a majority October 24, and Jefferson Parish will need to endure another month of this.