Senator Kennedy talks governor's race, issues facing Louisiana

Courtesy: KNOE 8 News
Courtesy: KNOE 8 News(KNOE)
Published: Nov. 20, 2018 at 10:12 PM CST
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Republican Senator John Kennedy is facing his own December 1st deadline to announce his decision on running for governor.

"I don't know," Kennedy said. "I'm not trying to be coy. Put a gun to my head right now; I couldn't tell you."

But, the Zachary native says the state needs help.

"My state's in trouble," Kennedy said.

He says he wants to see it fixed, starting with education.

"We've got to find out which of our teachers can teach, and pay them," he said. "We've got to find out which of our teachers can't teach, and either teach them how or tell them to find another line of work."

Another problem draining the state is bad water. Kennedy says there's a fix there too.

"We have plenty of rural programs," he said. "Very cheap money. There's no reason in America today, for us to have bad water unless your local government doesn't want to take advantage of the programs that are available."

Maybe the biggest story in Monroe-West Monroe is the future of CenturyLink. Negotiations are underway to keep the telecommunications giant in Monroe, but as of now, its contract expires in 2020. Kennedy says it's more than a twin cities' issue, it's a statewide issue that brings in a lot of revenue.

"I know the governor is negotiating with them and I'll help the governor any way I can," he said.

One thing is for sure. Kennedy will speak his mind, especially as a man known for his one-liners.