WASHINGTON — “Retirement” is the word used on Capitol Hill when a congressperson announces they won’t seek reelection — as 53 have so far.
Retired U.S. Rep. Billy Tauzin, R-Chackbay, said the official term doesn’t apply to Rep. Garret Graves, the Baton Rouge Republican who announced June 14 that he won’t run this fall for another two-year term and would leave the U.S. House of Representatives on Dec. 31.
“I know retirement is what they call it, but Garret isn’t going to retire. You’ll see him again in Louisiana politics and you won’t see him slow down,” for the remaining six months of his term, Tauzin said about the congressperson he mentored 30 years ago and with whom he remains close.
Indeed, Graves spent last week visiting his 6th Congressional District, including parts in the Bayou community that are being transferred to the 3rd Congressional District. He discussed hurricane protection projects.
The predominantly White 6th Congressional District that Graves has represented since 2015 was reconfigured in January to a predominantly Black district stretching from Baton Rouge to Shreveport.
Graves is banking on the U.S. Supreme Court overturning the Legislature’s map designed to give Black residents, who make up a third of the state’s population, a second of six congressional districts drawn to give Blacks a chance to elect someone they want, instead of having a White Republican with different policy goals represent their interests in Washington.
The high court indicated that overturning the Legislature’s January election map might be possible. But the 6-3 majority last month stated that federal courts should give deference to the reasons state lawmakers cited in drawing the congressional districts the way they did. And Louisiana legislators said part of their goal in making a second Black majority district was to target Graves, who had angered some powerful Republicans. The Supreme Court hasn’t yet agreed to hear the case.
Graves last week also toured Baton Rouge broadcast media — saying repeatedly that he is not running for Baton Rouge mayor-president.
Another possible office was added to the speculative mix Wednesday night when Louisiana Public Service Commissioner Craig Greene, R-Baton Rouge, announced that he would not seek reelection in November.
By Thursday morning, Graves was being talked up as a possible candidate for the Public Service Commission.
The “rumor mill, as you might imagine, is spinning at Mach 1,” said one lobbyist.
Graves did not comment — he hasn’t been home long enough to talk with his wife and to map out a possible campaign plan.
But some of his supporters and other political operatives say the job is a good fit for a number of reasons.
The PSC sets the rates that utilities charge customers monthly. Those rates are based on how much utility companies pay to generate and transmit power. The five PSC commissioners determine what expenses go into that rate formulation after considering complex engineering and finance concerns. Graves is known on Capitol Hill for his willingness to get in the weeds of energy-related policies.
PSC commissioners are elected to six-year terms, which would allow Graves to run for most other offices while keeping his job on the PSC if he were to win it.
With the exception of Lafayette, PSC District 2 map looks similar to the District 6 congressional map that Graves won with 80% of the vote in November 2022.
The PSC job is part-time, paying about $54,000 annually, and all five commissioners have other jobs. But they are still involved in politics as an elective office that has roughly 963,000 constituents each as opposed to congresspersons who each represent about 750,000 people.
Historically, the PSC has launched a number of statewide political careers from Huey Long to Jimmie Davis to John McKeithen to Kathleen Blanco.
Naturally, several other candidates also are being touted.
Former Republican state Rep. Scott McKnight, a Baton Rouge insurance man who ran unsuccessfully for state treasurer, announced his candidacy on Friday.
State Sen. Jean-Paul Coussan, R-Lafayette, also is said to be interested, according by lobbyists. Democrats are pressing former U.S. Attorney Don Cazayoux, of New Roads, to go for the position.
In the meantime, Graves is focusing on completing a legislative agenda mapped out 18 months ago when sworn in for his fourth term.
Last week, Graves and U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin, a West Virginia independent who also isn’t running for reelection, filed legislation to overturn the Biden Administration’s rules that they say do not properly implement the law that streamlines environmental regulations.
Graves on Wednesday told Baton Rouge’s Talk 107.3 FM that he also is trying to clear federal grants for the remaining 2016 flood victims who relied on U.S. Small Business Administration loans to repair their homes and businesses.
“We have a ton of stuff, really. It’s the same agenda, the same urgency we had months ago before we made this decision” to withdraw from the Nov. 5 congressional race, Graves said.