A look at the race for Louisiana State Treasurer

MONROE, La. (KNOE) - The race for State Treasurer in Louisiana is beginning to take shape.

Current Treasurer John Schroder isn’t seeking reelection, instead opting to run for governor.

Democratic financial planner and former State Senate candidate Dustin Granger and Republican State Representative Scott McKnight are the only candidates in the race so far.

“We’ve been, as a state, putting all of our eggs in one basket,” Granger, a Lake Charles native, told KNOE.

Granger says it’s time for the state to invest in clean energy and other emerging industries.

“If I had a client like Louisiana that owns an oil company or works in an oil company,” explained Granger. “I wouldn’t want them putting all of their savings in that same company. It just makes financial sense to diversify. There are all kinds of great companies and industries out there.”

McKnight agrees Louisiana needs to invest in new industries, but says oil and gas are not the problem.

“I would say that the oil and gas industry has been a huge component of the state for a very long time,” said McKnight. “It provides many, many jobs to our citizens that without them, we would struggle to find another dominant industry that would currently take that place.”

One of the treasurer’s responsibilities is to manage state funds. McKnight says a top priority is convincing the legislature to pay Louisiana’s obligations if elected.

Anytime that we have an opportunity to pay down debt that the state owes, that is a way that we can continue to generate the dollars that won’t go to interest payments back into the priorities of the state,” McKnight told KNOE.

Granger says if elected, he would work with the Bond Commission to overturn rules that prevent certain banks from doing business in Louisiana because of their social and environmental views.

“Right now, we have some costly bans on banks that are costing our communities millions of dollars in getting bonds taken care of to fund their communities,” said Granger.

Former U.S. Congressman John Fleming has also been rumored to be interested in running, but no announcement has been made.

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