BATON ROUGE (AP) — The race to fill Louisiana's open state treasurer's seat is underway, with a state lawmaker from St. Tammany Parish saying he'll be a candidate on the Oct. 14 ballot.
Republican Rep. John Schroder announced his campaign Monday in a statement saying he'd work to spend and invest Louisiana tax dollars wisely.
Schroder, a businessman from Covington, has been in the state House for nine years and has been an outspoken critic of Louisiana's budgeting practices. In his announcement, he called the state's budget "structurally broken."
Other lawmakers are expected to enter the race.
The seat is open because Republican John Kennedy won the U.S. Senate election, leaving the treasurer's position he'd held for 17 years. Ron Henson, Kennedy's top assistant, is leading the agency until a new treasurer is elected.
