Landry wins Louisiana governor's race, flipping state red

Republican Jeff Landry won the Louisiana governorship on Saturday, flipping the seat currently held by a Democrat.

Landry, the state attorney general, emerged from a crowded, all-party field to win the seat with 52 percent of the vote when The Associated Press called the race with 95 of the estimated vote counted. He will succeed term-limited Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards.

Landry emerged from a field that included a number of notable Republicans, including state Treasurer John Schroder and Stephen Waguespack, a former executive at the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry and one-time aide to former GOP Gov. Bobby Jindal. There was one big-name Democrat in the race: Shawn Wilson, who previously served in Edwards’ administration as transportation secretary and had 25 percent of the vote when the AP called the race.

Landry was able to quickly coalesce GOP support in the race. He was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, the state Republican Party and House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, among others.

By receiving more than 50 percent of the vote, Landry, who is also a former member of Congress, avoids a November runoff. Most expected Landry and Wilson to advance to that contest, making Landry’s outright win on Saturday an even bigger surprise — and potentially an early marker of Republican voters’ enthusiasm heading into 2024.

The state is red — Trump carried it by almost 19 points in 2020 — but Landry will become only the 4th Republican governor since the end of Reconstruction. Edwards, the outgoing Democratic governor, is one of the last of a dying breed of Southern Democrats. He is a rare anti-abortion Democrat still in a prominent elected office.

In the run-up to Saturday’s contest, Landry well outstripped the field in terms of resources. Landry’s campaign spent more than $9 million on advertisements, according to data from the ad tracking firm AdImpact, making him easily the top spender in the race. And outside groups poured in millions more.

While the Republican Governors Association was officially neutral in the race, the more than $4.7 million it spent going after Wilson on the airwaves likely helped push Landry over the top on Saturday.

Louisiana is one of three states electing a governor this year. In Kentucky, Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear is facing a challenge from Republican state Attorney General Daniel Cameron. And in Mississippi, GOP Gov. Tate Reeves faces off against Democrat Brandon Presley, a member of the state Public Service Commission. Both of those contests will be on Nov. 7.