John Breaux...?

Question

For governor, doesn't the candidate actually have to reside in the state he/she is running? For example, John Breaux is entering the governor's race in Louisiana even though he resides in Maryland and doesn't even have a Louisiana license. He hasn't lived in Louisiana for many years as well. Can someone please explain this to me??

P.S. Wouldn't this new definition of "citizen" just cause many new lawsuits? For example, students who pay out of state tuition to Louisiana colleges? Are they too Louisiana citizens?

Answer 1

Well, the argument made by Breaux supporters is that he does maintain a household in Crowley and that he does pay taxes on that property to the State of Louisiana, which may qualify him as a citizen.

Right now Attourney General Foti is supposed to be reviewing the State Consitution in an attempt to define the word citizen as it applies in this case. Even though some have alleged that Foti will side with Breaux in an attempt to maintain the Democratic Party presence in Lousiana, most analysts believe that he will decide against the more open definition of citizen; and Breaux will be unable to run because his primary residence and voter registration are both in Maryland.

Once Breaux is officially out of the race, Mitch Landrieu will formally announce his candidacy.

*EDIT*
The difference between Breaux and out of state college students is that Breaux has continually maintained a household in the state of Louisiana whereas the incoming students have not. And if the students do set up an off-campus household in Louisiana and maintain it for a certain number of years, then they can appeal their out-of-state student status under the current system; so, under the new definition, which would probably center on a maintained household qualifying as a residence, the students' status wouldn't change--no grounds for a lawsuit.

Answer 2

John Breaux can be a candidate in Louisiana if he was born thereat even when he did not have a residence.