Dan Kyle

Daniel Guin Kyle, known as Dan Kyle (born 1937), is a businessman from Baton Rouge Louisiana, who served as his state's legislative auditor from 1989–2003,^[1] when he stepped down to run unsuccessfully for insurance commissioner. An active Republican, Kyle uncovered many instances of misappropriations in state and local governments during his fifteen years as auditor. He planned to run for governor in 2003,^[2] but he switched to the insurance commissioner race, when another Republican candidate for that office, Tony Perkins, a state representative from East Baton Rouge Parish, abandoned the campaign to become president of the Family Research Council.

As legislative auditor, Kyle posted an office sign "In God We Trust, All Others We Audit." His work uncovered embezzlers, cronyism, and political kickbacks. His office moved against the late Elections Commissioner Jerry M. Fowler, indicted and convicted of receiving kickbacks from voting-machine contractors. Kyle investigated several college presidents but stressed that he does not believing in dismissing academic heads solely because of problems with an audit, as such positions are multi-faceted in scope.^[3] Kyle's work led to the conviction of nearly 250 public officials and government employees for the misappropriation of state funds.^[4]

Prior to his auditor's position, Kyle, both a PhD and a C.P.A., taught governmental accounting and auditing from 1968-1989 at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.^[4] In 2000, Kyle uncovered serious problems with an audit of historically black Grambling State University in Grambling in Lincoln Parish. A 1998 audit of the same institution uncovered no problems, but two years later, the auditor received inaccurate and incomplete information from the university administration. Grambling had four months of data missing, which rendered it impossible to conduct the required two-year audit.^[3]

In 1998, Kyle was invited by Leo Deslatte, the new Republican mayor of Pineville in Rapides Parish, to conduct an audit of the previous Fred Baden administration. While Kyle's report found malfeasance regarding Baden's management, state Attorney General Richard Ieyoub declared insufficient evidence of wrongdoing to bring about an indictment of the 28-year Democratic mayor.^[5]

In the nonpartisan blanket primary held on October 4, 2003 for insurance commissioner, Kyle trailed the Democrat Robert Wooley, 424,961 (33.7 percent) to 467,084 (37.1 percent). Four lesser-known candidates held the remaining but critical 30 percent of the vote.^[6] In the general election, Wooley defeated Kyle, 773,578 (57.7 percent) to 567,034 (42.3 percent). Kyle won only a quartet of the more Republican parishes, Bossier, Lafayette, Livingston, and St. Tammany parishes.^[7]

Kyle is a member of the East Baton Rouge Parish Republican Executive Committee. In 2007, as the deputy chairman of the Louisiana Republican Party under chairman Roger F. Villere, Jr., Kyle worked for the unsuccessful GOP candidate for Louisiana attorney general, Royal Alexander of Shreveport, who was handily defeated by the Democrat, Buddy Caldwell of Tallulah. The GOP claimed that Caldwell spent public funds for personal uses and that he cursed and threatened Dan Kyle.^[8]

In 2008, Kyle along with another Republican, Wayne Carter, a parish council member, and a Democrat, Ron Johnson, ran unsuccessfully for the mayor-presidency of East Baton Rouge Parish but was handily defeated by the incumbent Democrat Kip Holden, an African American who scored his second term in the executive office. Kyle called for the establishment of a public bus system to help with traffic congestion.^[9] Kyle criticized Holden's bond issue as an example of "tax-and-spend philosophy."^[10] Kyle ran a weak second in the mayor-parish presidency, having polled 12,886 votes (12.2 percent). Holden received 75,450 (71.2 percent) and Carter polled 11,341 (10.7 percent).^[11] Holden won in 2004 when he defeated the incumbent Republican Mayor-President Bobby R. Simpson.

In June 2009, as treasurer of the Louisiana GOP, Kyle became one of the directors of a national presidential fund-raising effort promoting Governor Bobby Jindal. According to Kyle, the group hopes to raise $60 million to persuade Jindal to seek the 2012 party nomination.^[12] Others on the committee are former State Representative Woody Jenkins and U.S. Representative Steve Scalise. Former Republican State Senator Tom Schedler of Slidell, had his name removed from the group, not because he opposes Jindal but because such fund-raising activity could conflict with Schedler's role as first assistant to Louisiana Secretary of State Jay Dardenne.^[12]

In October 2009, Kyle was named chief financial officer for Southern Star Amusement, Inc., a starup company which seeks to redevelop the Six Flags New Orleans theme park, which closed since Hurricane Katrina struck in August 2005. Southern Star plans to construct a water and theme park at the former Six Flags site.^[13]

Kyle, whose place of birth is not known, entered the work force at the age of fourteen in 1951, at the time of his father's death. He laid bricks and worked in retail to provide for his family and to earn his way through college.^[4] He is married to the former Connie Musick (born 1943). The couple has two sons, Alfred Daniel Kyle (born 1966) and Ronald Glen Kyle (born 1969), both of Baton Rouge. At some point prior to coming to Baton Rouge, Kyle had resided in Huntsville, Alabama.^[14] Kyle received his Bachelor of Science in accounting in 1959 from Southern Arkansas University in Magnolia. He then procured an MBA in 1961 and a Ph.D.in business administration in 1968, both from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. The Kyles are active in the First United Methodist Church of Baton Rouge since they moved to the state capital in 1968.^[4]

In his 2003 race for insurance commissioner, Kyle summed up his political motivation, accordingly.

"Louisiana is my home. . . Louisiana is my passion. Hard economic times has split up too many families and forced our children to search for jobs in other states . . . I will fight to keep our children and grandchildren in Louisiana . . . it will take my experience, integrity, and leadership to rid this state of corruption, create an economic climate for growth, and get this state off the bottom."^[4]

References