(The Center Square) — New District 2 Public Service Commissioner Jean-Paul Coussan spent more on his campaign this year than in his previous election running for state Senate.
In fact, Coussan, a Lafayette native, won District 23 in the primary without opposition. He had no competitors in that race, compared to two in this year’s PSC election.
Coussan won the PSC seat in the primary on Nov. 5 with a 54% majority vote according to preliminary results and spent $545,643 in campaign finances. He had a nice war chest to work with, receiving $704,497 in contributions as he defeated Democrat Nick Laborde and Republican Julie Quinn.
In contrast, he recorded $131,273 in expenditures for the senate election and was donated $95,271.
Likely because his seat was so important in determining a Democrat or Republican majority commission, his campaign receipts were higher than most other commissioners. However, not by a lot.
In 2020, District 1 commissioner, Republican Eric Skrmetta, won in the general election, spending $527,298. Most of the money Skrmetta spent was in the time between the primary and general election, as it was a close race in the primary.
Skrmetta received about the same as he spent, totaling $501,420.
Another election in 2020 saw the most expensive campaign of all five commissioners. District 5 commissioner, Democrat Foster Campbell, won in the primary and still spent well over $700,000 while only receiving contributions in slightly above $570,000.
The 2022 election wasn’t quite as costly for District 4 commissioner, Republican Mike Francis. He won in the primary with $252,888 in expenditures and $348,933 in donations.
District 3 commissioner, Democrat Davante Lewis, was the outlier to everybody back in 2022. Lewis came in second in the primary but won in the general election only spending a little over $32,000. Like Skrmetta, he used most of that money between the primary and general.
Lewis received $229,039 in his campaign and, unlike all the others, didn’t have any cash on hand at the start.
Commissioners serve overlapping six-year terms and are elected the same time as congressional elections. The Public Service Commission regulates public utilities and public service corporations, which provide services like electricity, water, and transportation.
