BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) – A more traditional person might call it crass, an ostentatious 90th birthday bash with a $250-per-person price tag to attend. But then, no one would call Louisiana’s four-term former governor, Edwin Edwards – the convicted felon with a wife five decades his junior, a 4-year-old son and a lifetime of making headlines – anything close to traditional.
The birthday festivities Saturday night at a posh Baton Rouge hotel sold out weeks in advance, with hundreds of elected officials, lobbyists and onlookers ponying up for tickets and a chance to watch what is expected to be pure spectacle, a throw-back celebration remembering when Edwards was the Democratic king of Louisiana politics.
“A lot of people just feel personally close to him. No other governor has served four times. To me this is just a once-in-a-lifetime historic event,” said Robert Gentry, the long-time Edwards friend organizing the celebration.
The ballroom will be packed with more than 500 people, including Louisiana’s current governor, Democrat John Bel Edwards (no relation), Republican Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser and Republican Senate President John Alario.
And everyone goes home with a gift bag: photos of Edwards with his wife Trina and preschooler son Eli, a souvenir magazine and a commemorative poster.