Callais, Chabert gear up for Saturday’s vote

With the general election for the District 20 state Senate seat this Saturday, the candidates are pulling out all the stops to get their voters to the polls.

Republican Brent Callais of Cut Off and Democrat Norby Chabert of Chauvin have spent the final week before the election dashing across central and southern regions of Terrebonne and Lafourche parishes.

Gov. Bobby Jindal has endorsed Callais. He also participated in a fundraiser on the Edison Chouest houseboat at Port Fourchon.

Callais hopes the move energizes his base and wins over independent voters who have yet to decide who to support.

“That was a huge benefit to our base. Gov. Jindal’s approval rating is over 80 percent in this district,” he said.

Chabert said he would be pounding the pavement hard and pressing the flesh all the way through Saturday.

“We’re taking our message directly to the voters and we plan on representing ourselves positively as we have done throughout the campaign,” he said.

Only about 20 percent of eligible voters went to the polls for the Aug. 1 primary.

Based on the early voting for Saturday’s runoff, turnout is expected to be higher.

Early voting for the general election was up 47 percent in Terrebonne from the primary, according to the parish Registrar of Voters – from 466 to 687.

In Lafourche, early voting increased 75 percent, from 441 to 781 votes, the parish Registrar of Voters Office said.

Throughout the campaign, Callais and Chabert have agreed on the main issues facing residents – coastal restoration, hurricane protection and levee construction.

But they say there are distinct differences between the two.

“I think Terrebonne and Lafourche residents are ready for a conservative, no nonsense guy who is going to go to Baton Rouge and cut spending,” Callais said. “I’m that candidate.”

“I represent honest, trustworthy leadership,” Chabert said. “I think the voters who know me voted for me the first time and will do so again on Saturday. The voters who really know my opponent voted against him and will do so again.”