BATON ROUGE - Businessman John Georges will not be included on the upcoming gubernatorial ballot since he failed to qualify, or sign up, for the election by 4:30 Thursday afternoon.

Late this week, political insiders stirred the political pot with claims Georges was considering a run. By adding his name to the list of candidates, Georges had potential to mix things up.

Among the high-profile candidates signed up are Republicans Scott Angelle, Lt. Governor Jay Dardenne and U.S. Senator David Vitter. Democrat John Bell Edwards, a state legislator, is also running.

Georges was out of the country, and some said he made his decision just minutes before the deadline and was going to send someone to qualify for him, had he decided to run.

Georges tried unsuccessfully in 2007 to run for governor and in 2011, similar stories were told in political circles but Georges failed to qualify then, too.

Georges is the owner of the The Advocate newspaper, having purchased it from the Manship family in 2013.  The Manship family owns WBRZ-TV and its website, WBRZ.com.

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