Current Position: Governor of Louisiana (since January 2007)
Why He Matters
Louisiana's steamy political swamp has produced an unlikely political figure: an Ivy League-educated policy wonk and reformer who became the nation's first Indian-American governor, Piyush “Bobby” Jindal.
The son of successful Punjabi immigrants, Jindal is part of a new generation of emerging leaders in a Republican party that appears ready to become more diverse. His success in Louisiana is remarkable; he's the first minority governor there since Reconstruction. But don’t expect him to play up his heritage on the campaign trail. During the gubernatorial campaign debates in 2007, Jindal effectively turned the question of his background into this winning line: "People want to make everything about race. The only colors that matter here are red, white and blue."
Like Alaska’s Republican Gov. Sarah Palin, Jindal is a reformer who has successfully challenged his state's corrupt “good 'ol boy” network. Jindal also unifies the party's two major coalitions: social conservatives and free-market conservatives. Both groups see themselves as allies of Jindal, a man who is as deeply religious as he is a fiscal hawk. (He converted from Hinduism to Catholicism in high school).
In 2008, Jindal was actively considered, although never formally vetted by John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) presidential campaign for selection to run as vice president. Many Republicans opposed “wasting” the promising young governor in a longshot campaign in a difficult year for the GOP.
Regardless of the chatter, Jindal played coy through the process. He leveraged enough attention to appear on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show and other national media outlets. Once in the spotlight, he announced that he only intended to seek re-election in Louisiana in 2011, a decision that seems to put him out of the running for president in 2012 as well.
That said, many Republicans think Jindal could be the perfect foil to President Barack Obama and may prefer he compete on.
At a Glance
Current Position: Lousiana Governor (since 2007)
Career History: U.S. Congress (2005 through 2007); Secretary, Lousiana Dept. of Health and Hospitals (1996 to 1998); Executive Director, National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare, (1998 to 1999); President, University of Louisiana System (1999 to 2001); Assistant Secretary, U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (2001 to 2003)
Birthday: June 10, 1971
Hometown: Baton Rouge, La.
Alma Mater: Brown University, B.A. 1991; Oxford University, M.Lit., 1994.
Spouse: Supriya Jindal
Religion: Catholic
Office: Office of the Governor, P.O. Box 94004
Baton Rouge, Louisana 70804-9004
225-335-7015
Email
Web site
Path to Power
Jindal has assembled a remarkable resume in his still-young career compiled in his home state and Washington, D.C. He graduated magna cum laude from Brown University in 1993 and was selected as a Rhodes Scholar, earning a master’s in public policy from New College in Oxford. In 1996, Louisiana GOP Gov. Mike Foster appointed Jindal — then just 24 years old — to head the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH).
The department was the state’s largest with 12,000 employees and a $4 billion budget. There, Jindal stunningly turned a $400 million deficit into a multi-year surplus. His health-care policy prowess earned national attention and Jindal was appointed in 1998 as the executive director of the National Bipartisan Commission on the Future of Medicare that was created by Congress. Upon the completion of the commission's work a year later, he returned to the Louisiana government to serve as the president of the state's university system.
In 2001, at age 30, Jindal was appointed by President George W. Bush to serve as Assistant Secretary to Tommy Thompson in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), further strengthening his health-care policy credentials.
Running for Office
Jindal returned to Louisiana two years later to run for governor. He narrowly lost the 2003 election in a runoff with Democratic candidate Kathleen Blanco but expanded his name recognition statewide. In 2004, Jindal ran for Louisiana's 1st House district , capturing the suburban New Orleans seat with 78 percent of the vote. He ran again in 2006 and claimed won re-election with a whopping 88 percent of the vote.
The statehouse in Baton Rogue, however, remained the goal. While still serving in Congress, Jindal ran again for the governorship in 2007. His message of reform, competence and economic growth resonated in a state still reeling from Hurricane Katrina. Jindal crisscrossed the state's parishes, outworking a field of 11 other opponents to win Louisiana's open gubernatorial primary outright with 54 percent of the vote. The next closest candidate, a state senator who spent $5 million of his own money in the race, earned just 18 percent of the vote.
The Issues
Jindal's brand of conservatism is confident, knowledgeable and modern. He offers detailed policy proposals and action plans with refreshing sincerity. In just his first year in office, Gov. Jindal ushered ethics legislation, tax relief, and significant criminal, educational and health-care reforms through the Louisiana legislature.
Ethics and Government Reform
Jindal called a special session of the state legislature shortly after his gubernatorial win to address ethics reform, calling on lawmakers to adopt the “gold standard” in public ethics and disclosure law.
Jindal made it clear ethics reform would be his signature issue in his inaugural address, when he declared: “We can build a Louisiana where our leaders and our people set the highest standards and hold every member of our government accountable. A Louisiana where incompetence is not a synonym for government. A Louisiana where corruption does not hold us back. ... We must win a war on corruption and incompetence in government. ... It must be the first thing we do."
Jindal argued the perception of rampant corruption in Louisiana kept the state from attracting businesses and growing economically. Jindal’s reforms were passed and made the Louisiana tax, employment, and regulatory systems more business-friendly. At the centerpiece of his economic agenda was tax relief for business and business investments, as well as the largest individual tax cut in Louisiana history.
The changes moved Louisiana from the bottom fifth in the country to “on par with the nation's best financial disclosure laws” as measured by the independent Center for Public Integrity.
Health Care
Given his work on health-care policy and as a health- care system administrator, Jindal is equipped to offer sound solutions to the nation’s broken health care system and poised to combat a universal care approach favored by Democrats.
The state passed Jindal’s Louisiana Health Care Reform Act in 2007, and in November, 2008, the Jindal administration offered the “Louisiana Health First” plan to implement it.
One of the ideas contained in the legislation would improve care by offering patients a network of “medical homes” managed by their primary care physician to streamline care from doctors, specialists and hospitals.. The bill also required medical records to be stored electronically (something the Obama administration has also advocated) and creates quality controls to measure performance outcomes. Before the program can be implemented, however, a federal waiver must be obtained since the plan operates outside existing Medicaid rules.
The Network
With a resume that includes stints as a congressman, a Bush administration assistant secretary, and as the head of Louisiana's state university and health-care systems, Jindal's network of contacts and supporters is deep, wide and national.
Louisiana Republican Governor Mike Foster gave Jindal his early break in 1996 with the appointment to run DHH. Gov. Foster said his choice was “a bit unorthodox due to his young age, but I am pleased to find such an exceptionally talented Secretary.” In fact, Jindal's performance in his various roles has been so impressive that he's earned a wide variety of fans, including New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, a Democrat who endorsed Jindal in 2003 and Democratic Sen. John Breaux (La.), the dean of Louisiana politics who worked with Jindal on the Medicare commission.
The GOP in Louisiana ran advertisements with flattering quotes from Breaux regarding Jindal during the run-up to the 2007 campaign in an effort to deter Breaux from running for governor.
Jindal’s inner circle includes two other under-40 Louisiana natives with Capitol Hill experience. His DC chief of staff, Timmy Teepell, ran his gubernatorial campaign and now servers as his chief of staff in Baton Rogue. Stephen Waguespack, a legislative director for Texas Rep. Joe Barton (R), and a former lobbyist for a range of business clients and the state of Louisiana, serves as Jindal's policy director.
