Politics / StudentNation / November 16, 2023

Can Louisiana Use the Treasurer’s Office to Invest in the Working Class?

Dustin Granger sees the position as a potential antidote to Republican Governor-elect Jeff Landry, but the progressive candidate still faces an uphill battle in the upcoming November runoff.

Kennith Woods
Dustin Granger, a Democrat running for state treasurer in Louisiana.(YouTube)

In late September, citizens of Avoyelles Parish, the heart of Louisiana, gathered to hear candidates give their stump speeches mere weeks out from the Saturday, October 14, primary election. Among the batch of elected hopefuls, the majority-white, majority-Republican community listened to Dustin Granger, the progressive Democratic candidate for state treasurer. One Republican in particular, a man wearing a T-shirt with former president Donald Trump’s image splashed across his chest, seemed especially moved by Granger’s calls for progressive economic reform. 

“The message is universal. The guy with the Trump shirt was nodding his head the whole time, and another gentleman came up and said, ‘Wow. Keep saying that over and over. You got my vote,’” Granger said.

Granger, a financial adviser from Lake Charles, is one of the three statewide Democratic candidates left standing following a disastrous primary election that resulted in the Democratic Party’s losing the governorship outright and without a runoff—a result few political pundits saw happening. Governor-elect Jeff Landry, a Republican in the same vein as Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, will helm Louisiana over the next four years. The Republican-dominated legislature, featuring a multitude of conservative Democrats, will provide plenty of support to Landry during his term.

Granger will once again vie for the treasurer’s seat in the November 18 runoff election. Admittedly, he has an uphill battle to climb; he’s the underdog in the runoff against Republican former representative John Fleming, a longtime political careerist looking to boost his state profile; he’s representing a devastatingly mismanaged state Democratic Party; and, finally, he’s running in what will likely be a low-turnout election.

But what sets him apart from almost all other Louisiana Democrats—and what will give him a fighting chance on Saturday—is the populist messaging at the heart of his campaign.

Granger is a staunch opponent of Louisiana’s rampant economic malfeasance—the real issue taking a toll on people’s lives in the Pelican State. Working-class people of all backgrounds have seen funding to public benefits continuously stripped from the state budget. “Our economy is a classic case of trickle-down economics, where we have all the giveaways to people at the top, including the wealthy and multinational corporations. They get the giveaways and tax breaks and that’s by design,” said Granger. “That leads to cuts in public investment, health and education, and when the legislature can’t cut anymore, they end up raising taxes on working people. It happens over and over again.”

Southern conservative politics is riddled with bigoted dog whistles meant to play on working-class white people’s underlying prejudices in the interest of maintaining corporate profits. In essence, Republicans’ regressive “culture war” policies serve as a distraction while they “pick all of our pockets,” as Granger puts it. He wants to cut through the noise and use the treasurer’s office as a bastion for working-class people, investing in Louisiana citizens by advocating for strengthened climate protections and green energy job policies, a living wage, insurance reform and premium insurance assistance; addressing food and banking deserts prevalent in small towns; and protecting civil rights—which will keep young people from leaving the state in droves.

As the state’s progressive economic leader, Granger would also serve as a vital check on Landry’s far-right administration. The treasurer is the head of the State Bond Commission, which, among other things, uses the state’s debt to fund infrastructure projects, meaning Granger would have an outsize voice on how millions of state funds should be allocated. The position is also constitutionally required to advise Landry and the legislature on the state’s economic climate before the legislative session begins, meaning he can potentially steer budget discussions in ways that will benefit Louisiana’s working-class majority.

“People just want somebody to explain what’s happening, make it make sense to them, and also let them know the division they’re always seeing is by design. It’s designed to hurt everybody except the small, greedy few people at the top. They’re the only people who make out good from this,” Granger said.

Most Louisiana Democrats avoid advocating for progressive values, thinking it will harm their reelection prospects. Yet, as Granger proved in ruby-red Avoyelles Parish, speaking truth to power will resonate with working-class people, regardless of political affiliation. Democrats cannot shy away from this runoff election, lest they risk ceding full control to a far-right administration eager to terrorize the state’s most vulnerable citizens for years to come. Instead, Democrats need to embrace Granger’s progressive bona fides—and join him.

Read the rest of StudentNation’s dispatches on the 2023 election here.

Be part of 160 years of confronting power 


Every day,
The Nation exposes the administration’s unchecked and reckless abuses of power through clear-eyed, uncompromising independent journalism—the kind of journalism that holds the powerful to account and helps build alternatives to the world we live in now. 

We have just the right people to confront this moment. Speaking on Democracy Now!, Nation DC Bureau chief Chris Lehmann translated the complex terms of the budget bill into the plain truth, describing it as “the single largest upward redistribution of wealth effectuated by any piece of legislation in our history.” In the pages of the June print issue and on The Nation Podcast, Jacob Silverman dove deep into how crypto has captured American campaign finance, revealing that it was the top donor in the 2024 elections as an industry and won nearly every race it supported.

This is all in addition to The Nation’s exceptional coverage of matters of war and peace, the courts, reproductive justice, climate, immigration, healthcare, and much more.

Our 160-year history of sounding the alarm on presidential overreach and the persecution of dissent has prepared us for this moment. 2025 marks a new chapter in this history, and we need you to be part of it.

We’re aiming to raise $20,000 during our June Fundraising Campaign to fund our change-making reporting and analysis. Stand for bold, independent journalism and donate to support The Nation today.

Onward, 

Katrina vanden Heuvel 
Publisher, The Nation

Kennith Woods

Kennith Woods is a 2023 Puffin student writing fellow focusing on sports, race, and politics for The Nation. He is a student at Southeastern Louisiana University and the news editor for The Lion's Roar.

More from The Nation

Zohran Mamdani attends a campaign rally, calling for the full enforcement of the city's Sanctuary City laws, June 21, 2025, in Diversity Square in the Jackson Heights neighborhood of the borough of Queens, New York City.

Zohran Mamdani Just Showed How to Stand Up to Trump Zohran Mamdani Just Showed How to Stand Up to Trump

Mamdani and Brad Lander prove they know how to say “no” to a lawless president and his war—while rival Andrew Cuomo stumbles.

John Nichols

US President Donald Trump (R) shakes hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House on April 7, 2025, in Washington, DC.

As Trump and Netanyahu Push for War, Europe Is Once Again Silent As Trump and Netanyahu Push for War, Europe Is Once Again Silent

Ahead of a NATO summit, European capitals are unwilling to strain ties with Washington.

Harrison Stetler

A young Iranian girl holds a country flag during a protest to condemn the U.S. attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities in downtown Tehran, Iran, on June 22, 2025

The War the World Has Feared for Decades Is Here The War the World Has Feared for Decades Is Here

The US and Israel have launched a war of aggression against Iran, based on lies. We are all now in deep, uncharted waters.

Séamus Malekafzali

Anti-war protesters rally in Los Angeles on June 22 after the Trump administration bombed Iran with the largest B-2 bomber strike in US history.

“No Kings” Has to Become “No More Wars” “No Kings” Has to Become “No More Wars”

Donald Trump killed the anti-war right—but offers a chance to revive the anti-war left.

Jeet Heer

June 14 March

June 14 March June 14 March

Sketches NYC.

OppArt / Steve Brodner

A protester on an electric unicycle waves a flag outside City Hall in protest against a series of United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) raids, in Los Angeles on June 15, 2025.

Here in Los Angeles, Immigrants Are Leading the Fight Here in Los Angeles, Immigrants Are Leading the Fight

In the streets, in our legislatures, and in the courts, political leaders are calling for law and order, ignoring the fact that it is their officers wreaking havoc.

Victor Leung