Gov. John Bel Edwards reports $5M in campaign war chest for 2019 re-election bid

With a possibly bitter re-election bid ahead of him, Gov. John Bel Edwards has more than $5 million in his campaign coffers nearly two years out from the October 2019 election, his latest annual campaign finance report shows.

Edwards, a Democrat who announced his plans to seek a second term shortly after taking office in January 2016, has more than $5 million in the bank after having raised nearly $2.2 million in 2017 and spending about $310,230.

He started the year with more than $3.17 million after his first full year in office.

"I am so optimistic about our state's future and where we stand at the halfway point of this administration, and I am humbled that the people of Louisiana have given my family this incredible opportunity," Edwards said in a statement on his fundraising efforts.

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