Louisiana Candidate Could Flip Dem-Held Gov Seat to Join GOP Supermajority in State Legislature
As Louisiana voters go to the polls in the primary on Saturday, the results of the crowded race to become the state’s next governor could replace Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards with a Republican.
Edwards is term-limited after winning elections in 2015 and 2019.
Republican State Attorney General Jeff Landry is trying to win more than 50% of the vote, which would eliminate the need for a run-off election in November.
“How would y’all like to finish this in October?” Landry recently told voters, according to The New York Times.
The Real Clear Politics average of three polls on the race shows Landry leading at 38.7%, with Democrat Shawn Wilson – the only other candidate in double figures — at 24%.
Former President Donald Trump, who won about 60% of the vote in Louisiana in 2016 and 2020, has backed Landry.
🇺🇸A Message from Our President🇺🇸
Get Out and Vote for Jeff Landry for Governor tomorrow—He has my Complete and Total Endorsement! pic.twitter.com/Ul8RE6V5xa
— GH17TAFKAG (@GH17TAFKAG) October 13, 2023
The Times noted that the race for governor also includes Hunter Lundy — an evangelical independent — Republican state Sen. Sharon Hewitt, GOP lobbyist Stephen Waguespack, and state treasurer John Schroder, who is also a Republican.
In Saturday’s primary, voters can pick whomever they please, regardless of party affiliation. If no one gets a majority of the votes cast, a run-off will be Nov. 18.
Louisiana voters also will cast ballots in races for lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general and treasurer and decide upon four ballot measures. All of the seats in the state House and Senate are up for grabs, although not all are contested, according to The Associated Press.
If Landry wins, Republicans would have the governor’s spot to go along with a legislative supermajority.
Landry opposed vaccine mandates and has supported parents’ rights in education, the Times reported.
“Jeff was actually fighting for us,” Louisiana resident Kim Cutforth told the Times, speaking of his vaccine mandate opposition. “I loved him for it.”
His opponents, she said, should “just go — let Jeff be the governor.”
At a recent campaign stop, Landry expressed his support for the police, according to KSLA-TV.
“Shreveport’s not alone in a shortage of police officers. New Orleans is probably about 70% understaffed. We hear it from sheriffs and other municipal police departments,” he said.
“What we do collectively is go out there and make sure those that wanna’ get in law enforcement understand that their government, their community, and their state has their back.
“We are going to stand and support the men and women who get up each and every day and stand on that thin blue line.”
Gun Owners of America recently announced it is endorsing Landry.
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