Five days after losing the election for Kenner mayor, Walt Bennetti has declared that he is switching party affiliations. Registered as a Republican since age 18, Bennetti wrote that he moved to Libertarian after the election, in part due to GOP Mayor Mike Yenni. On his ClickJefferson blog, Bennetti wrote that he initially was drawn to the Republican platform of reducing government waste and cutting public spending. "I wanted government out of my life," Bennetti wrote.
But when the Jefferson Parish Republican Party endorsed his opponent, Bennetti said he realized the party had shifted. "I knew that the Republican Party that I signed up for in 1979 was not the Republican Party of 2014 that I wanted to be a part of."
He said Libertarians believe in the core values that drew him to the Republican Party in the first place. "Libertarians believe in less government and lower taxes and that, along with being pro-life, are at the core of my personal political philosophy," Bennetti wrote. "And that is why I am proud to be a Libertarian."
Read Bennetti's full account of why he switched parties.