On Saturday, in a tight-knit primary to determine the next governor of Louisiana, Republican Jeff Landry won on the support of former President Donald Trump.
Term limits prevented John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, from running for re-election.
“Thankful beyond belief. I’m ready to get to work for Louisiana!” Landry posted on X after his win.
Thankful beyond belief. I’m ready to get to work for Louisiana!
— Jeff Landry (@JeffLandry) October 15, 2023
According to Politico, the Associated Press declared the race for Landry with 95 percent of the vote in, while Landry received 52 percent of the vote.
Approximately 25 percent of the vote was cast for Democrat Shawn Wilson, while the remaining candidates, such as evangelical independent Hunter Lundy, Republican state senator Sharon Hewitt, GOP lobbyist Stephen Waguespack, and Republican state treasurer John Schroder, received sporadic support.
Voters were free to choose their candidate in the primary on Saturday, irrespective of their party affiliation. In the event that no candidate secured a majority, as had been anticipated, a runoff would have taken place the following month.
The Times-Picayune reports that Landry representative Kate Kelly described the magnitude of the astonishment the decisive victory evoked in an interview moments later.
“I didn’t have a press release prepared for this,” Kelly said.
As per The New York Times, Trump, who received approximately sixty percent of the vote in Louisiana in 2016 and 2020, had supported Landry.
The governorship is currently under Republican authority, in accordance with a legislative supermajority.
“Today’s election says that our state is united,” Landry said after his victory, according to The Associated Press.
“It’s a wake-up call and it’s a message that everyone should hear loud and clear, that we the people in this state are going to expect more out of our government from here on out,” he said.
Thankful beyond belief. I’m ready to get to work for Louisiana!
— Jeff Landry (@JeffLandry) October 15, 2023
“Democratic turnout has been weak,” Louisiana-based pollster John Couvillon said, according to The Hill.
“Normally, early voting tends to favor Democrats, and Republicans as of Saturday night cumulatively have a plus-5 lead,” Couvillon said.
NBC noted that Landry made crime a major focus of his campaign. “Your criminal justice system is broken. … We’re going to hold everyone, and I mean everyone, accountable for violent crime,” he said in his initial campaign ad.