Lousiana AG Declines to Rule on Breaux Residency

Louisiana Attorney General Charles Forti declined to make a decision about the residency of former Sen. John Breaux, who may run for governor, but currently lives in the Washington DC area.

Breaux expressed disappointment with Friday's decision.

"I was hopeful that the Attorney General would have been able to issue an opinion on my qualifications to run for governor", he said.

"I am in the process of reviewing the Attorney General's statement and obviously want to review it carefully before commenting. I will have more to say about the statement and the Governor's race in the coming days," the former senator added.

The Louisiana constitution requires candidates to be registered in the state at qualification and to be citizens of Louisiana.

State Republicans argue Breaux is ineligible to run for governor because he has claimed residency in Maryland and forfeited his prior Louisiana citizenship.

Since retiring from the Senate in 2005, Breaux has been serving as senior counsel for the prestigious Washington law firm and lobbying shop Patton Boggs.

Meanwhile, Rep. Bobby Jindal, the leading Republican candidate, announced he raised $5 million since first announcing his gubernatorial bid, including $2.67 million since February.

A poll conducted for Republican candidate John Georges showed Jindal leading Breaux 39-23% with all the candidates in the race, and leading him 49-36% in a head-to-head matchup.

Litigation to decide the issue may take months and without a definitive ruling on his eligibility, Breaux would have scant time to mount an effective campaign. In short, this is a good news for Jindal.