The Walton Presence in Louisiana K12 Education (Still Watching for a 2019 BESE-Influencing Money Dump)
I have been watching for the billionaire Walton influence in the upcoming, October 2019 elections of Louisiana’s Board of Elementary and secondary Education (BESE).
On August 21, 2019, I posted about the disbanding of the Louisiana PAC (Louisiana businessman Lane Grigsby’s Empower Louisiana PAC) used to funnel $3M in out-of-state billionaire money into Louisiana’s 2015 BESE election. Siblings Jim and Alice Walton pumped $650K into that election and subsequent, November 2015, runoff via that single Louisiana PAC, with Alice and Jim each donating $200K to the BESE primary and Jim donating an additional $250K for the runoff. Grigsby used the money to advertise for specific ed-reform candidates and against specific traditional-ed candidates.
billionaire siblings Alice and Jim Walton
By August 2015, both Alice and Jim had already made their $200K donations to influence the 2015 BESE race, with both donations being made on August 20, 2015. (To verify, search via name here.)
(Also on August 20, 2015, the same day that Jim Walton donated $200K to Empower Louisiana PAC, he also donated $100K to La. Federation for Children PAC and $250K to Stand for Children IEC.)
Since the Empower Louisiana PAC has been disbanded prior to the 2019 BESE election, that specific vehicle for Walton and other out-of-state billionaire money CONTINUE READING: The Walton Presence in Louisiana K12 Education (Still Watching for a 2019 BESE-Influencing Money Dump) | deutsch29
