To win, Wilson must craft the same formula as Edwards during his two victories: Win 30% of the White vote and 95% of the Black vote, said Greg Rigamer, a New Orleans-based pollster and demographer. Blacks must also constitute about 30% of the electorate, he said.
“Edwards is a model for Shawn Wilson,” Rigamer said.
But since Wilson hasn’t been elected before, he remains untested as a campaigner and is barely known by the state’s voters.
Wilson plans to introduce himself to voters beginning Monday with a blitz on TV stations in New Orleans, Baton Rouge and Shreveport.
While Edwards spent eight years in the state House sharpening his political instincts, Wilson has regularly worked with Republican lawmakers over the past seven years to win approval for his infrastructure priorities.
He will tout the nearly 7,000 miles of roadway built during his tenure, as well as the hundreds of millions of dollars secured to replace the I-10 bridge over the Calcasieu River and to build a new bridge over the Mississippi River in Baton Rouge.
But Republicans will likely target his past support for a gas tax increase to pay for roadwork and for the daily traffic tie-ups in the New Orleans and Baton Rouge metro areas.
Like Edwards, Wilson supports increasing the minimum wage, paying women the same amount for equal work as men and raising teacher pay this year by as much as $3,000 per year.
Like Edwards, he is a gun owner who opposes taking guns away from law-abiding citizens but favors background checks on the purchases of weapons at gun shows and garage sales.
Like Edwards, Wilson is personally opposed to abortion. But unlike Edwards, he favors government allowing women to choose whether to have the procedure.
“I am not of the mindset to force my religious beliefs on others,” Wilson said. “It’s not the government’s right to tell a woman what to do with any medical procedure involving her body. They have a right to privacy for these decisions.”
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