Changes

Early in 2007, Strain entered the race for agriculture commissioner in opposition to the 28-year Democratic [[incumbent]], Robert Fulton "Bob" Odom, Jr., who in his last years in office had been engulfed in multiple personal corruption allegations.

Early in 2007, Strain entered the race for agriculture commissioner in opposition to the 28-year Democratic [[incumbent]], Robert Fulton "Bob" Odom, Jr., who in his last years in office had been engulfed in multiple personal corruption allegations.

Numerous newspapers endorsed Strain's candidacy, including ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' ''The Shreveport Times,''  the ''[[Monroe News Star]]'' in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] (the seat of Ouachita Parish in northeast Louisiana) and ''The Alexandria Town Talk,'' published three days a week in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] (the seat of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana). In declaring its support for Strain, ''The Times-Picayune'' said that the department is "badly in need of change. The department in recent years has run amok, particularly as it embarked on an ill-conceived and wasteful building campaign. Taxpayers are now carrying a $56 million debt risk for a syrup mill that's not meeting production projections. Yet the department sought to build a separate $135 million mill last year until public pressure helped kill the project . . . "

Numerous newspapers endorsed Strain's candidacy, including ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' ''The Shreveport Times,''  the ''[[Monroe News Star]]'' in [[Monroe, Louisiana|Monroe]] (the seat of Ouachita Parish in northeast Louisiana) and ''[[The Alexandria Town Talk]],'' published three days a week in [[Alexandria, Louisiana|Alexandria]] (the seat of Rapides Parish in central Louisiana). In declaring its support for Strain, ''The Times-Picayune'' said that the department is "badly in need of change. The department in recent years has run amok, particularly as it embarked on an ill-conceived and wasteful building campaign. Taxpayers are now carrying a $56 million debt risk for a syrup mill that's not meeting production projections. Yet the department sought to build a separate $135 million mill last year until public pressure helped kill the project . . . "

Strain also received the endorsement of the Louisiana Republican Party and the support of Republican then [[U.S. Senator]] [[David Vitter]], who urged voters to elect Strain in order to "move beyond our past of cronyism and corruption."<ref>"Mike Strain standing by an old ally," ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' undated; no longer accessible on line.</ref>

Strain also received the endorsement of the Louisiana Republican Party and the support of Republican then [[U.S. Senator]] [[David Vitter]], who urged voters to elect Strain in order to "move beyond our past of cronyism and corruption."<ref>"Mike Strain standing by an old ally," ''The New Orleans Times-Picayune,'' undated; no longer accessible on line.</ref>