GOP Donor Asks for Money Back After Candidate Hires Corey Lewandowski

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GOP Donor Asks for Money Back After Candidate Hires Corey Lewandowski.
John Odom, a major Republican donor, has been a top backer of Louisiana gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry. He’s dined with Landry, talked with him on the phone and attended one of his annual “Alligator Hunt” fundraisers. In all, he’s given $100,000 to his political operation.

But now Landry, the state’s attorney general and frontrunner in the race, has done something that, for Odom, is unforgivable.

He hired former Donald Trump 2016 campaign manager Corey Lewandowski as a political adviser.


And now, in response, Odom is demanding that Landry give him his money back and is “urg[ing] the voters of Louisiana to reject Landry at the polls.”

Odom, a construction company executive who made over $100,000 in federal donations to Republican-aligned candidates and groups in the 2022 midterm election, has deeply personal reasons for his dislike of Lewandowski. In 2021, Odom’s then-wife, Trashelle Odom, alleged that Lewandowski made unwanted sexual advances toward her at a Las Vegas charity dinner in September 2021.

Lewandowski was later charged with misdemeanor battery, and in September 2022 he cut a plea deal with Nevada prosecutors. Under the deal, the political strategist agreed to pay a $1,000 fine, undergo impulse control training, serve 50 hours of community service and stay out of trouble for a year. In exchange, Lewandowski would not have to admit guilt.

Along the way, Lewandowski remained active in Republican politics, advising several candidates during the 2022 midterms. Landry’s campaign has paid Lewandowski $100,000 ahead of the Oct. 14 primary, according to state finance records. The payments were first reported this past week by the Louisiana Illuminator.

For John Odom, this was too much. In a statement to POLITICO, he said that he was “deeply disappointed and disgusted by Jeff Landry’s decision to hire Corey Lewandowski.”

Odom said Lewandowski was “unfit to serve in any capacity in any political campaign,” and added: “I urge Landry to reconsider his decision.”

Odom asked Landry, who has served as Louisiana’s attorney general since 2016, to “immediately” return his contribution and said it was “obvious that he is not the kind of leader that Louisiana needs.”

A Landry spokesperson, Kate Kelly, declined to say whether the campaign planned to return Odom’s donation.

“Our campaign has over 11,000 donors from every corner of Louisiana. People contribute to us because they are tired of the broken system in Baton Rouge,” Kelly said in a statement. “We appreciate all of the support and are looking forward to working to make Louisiana Great Again.”

A representative for Trashelle Odom, unsolicited, sent a statement from her