Louisiana Attorney General and staunch conservative Jeff Landry beat out a crowded field of candidates Saturday to become the state’s next governor, cementing Republican control of Louisiana after eight years of divided government.
A staunch conservative who repeatedly fought Democratic principles on the court as Louisiana’s top lawyer, Mr. Landry will replace Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who is limited to two terms. In Saturday’s “jungle primary” that pits candidates of any political affiliation against each other, Mr. Landry stunned many political observers by winning more than 50 percent of the vote, eliminating the need for a runoff.
His victory guarantees Louisiana a far-right government — Republicans have controlled the legislature for a decade, but Mr. They faced opposition from Edwards, who vetoed several bills, including those targeting LGBTQ people. This comes at a time when the state is facing rising tide Insurance rates and a declining population.
A wide field of more than a dozen candidates, including Democrats, independents and rival Republicans, Mr. Landry was given heavy odds to win outright. If no candidate gets an absolute majority, the two top vote-getters will face off in next month’s runoff.
But Mr. Landry won with 51.5 percent of the vote, followed by Democrat and former state transportation secretary Shawn Wilson with 26 percent. None of the other candidates — a panel that includes former Gov. Bobby Jindal’s aide and a prominent business lobbyist — Stephen Wagusback; John Schroeder, State Treasurer; and Sharon Hewitt, a state senator — reached double digits.
Mr. Landry, a conflict lawyer and politician, has challenged Mr. He fought the Edwards and Biden administrations and won over much of the Republican Party. , and environmental regulations.
As a tea party in American government, he served as sheriff’s deputy in the House of Representatives and twice as a member of the legislature. But in the last eight years as Attorney General Mr. Landry flexed the power of a political office and his particular style of war conservatism.
During the coronavirus pandemic, he challenged local and national vaccination and mask mandates for health workers, students and federal employees, voicing skepticism even when vaccines were proven to help curb the spread and numbers of the virus.
He helped lead cases that resulted in a federal judge restricting the Biden administration from talking to social media companies and saw the Supreme Court limit the administration’s ability to reduce carbon emissions.
And he has supported some of Louisiana’s most controversial decisions, including a congressional map that black voters challenged as violating a key civil rights law and its abortion law, one of the nation’s toughest laws. (At one point, Mr. Landry apparently He said that Critics can let go State.)
During his campaign for governor, Mr. Landry vowed to crack down on crime in the state, though critics noted that prosecuting crimes falls under the attorney general’s jurisdiction. He pledged to end the “woke agenda” in Louisiana schools, support parents’ rights to make decisions for their children, and advocate for limiting access to what is considered transgender care and literature. Overtly sexual.
