Jeff Landry, the Louisiana attorney general, won the gubernatorial race in Louisiana on Saturday. Landry, a Republican, secured over 50% of the vote. He was backed by former President Donald Trump.
Landry’s win cements Republican control of Louisiana after eight years of divided government. Landry is a hard-line conservative.
“Do you love Louisiana?” Landry said from the stage at his election night party in Broussard, describing his win as a wake-up call.
“This state is my family, and we are going to work to fix this state, because that’s what families do. Make no mistake about it: It was historic and it’s a clear signal the state is united.”
Landry, the state’s attorney general and a Donald Trump disciple who secured the former president’s endorsement, has led the race from the start, but few predicted he’d win the primary outright without going to a runoff.
Landry swamped the crowded field, including second-place finisher Shawn Wilson, the state’s former transportation secretary, despite Wilson having consolidated Democratic support.
He finished with 52% of the vote to avoid having to run in the Nov. 18 general election. Wilson was second with 26%. Nobody else got more than 6%.
Wilson conceded the race from his election night event in New Orleans, telling reporters there, “While we might not understand everything that Jeff Landry wants to do as governor, I believe he wants to try to do the right thing, and it’s our job as Louisianans to make that happen.”
Landry will replace Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards, who was term-limited and couldn’t run again after eight years in office.
Landry, the state’s two-term attorney general, led the race wire to wire after announcing his campaign last year and securing the early endorsement of the Louisiana Republican Party, easily vanquishing a handful of other GOP hopefuls who never really threatened to catch him.
Wilson, who was Edwards’ transportation secretary for most of his two terms, had his former boss’ backing, but it wasn’t enough to send him to a runoff.
Landry’s victory seals a Republican monopoly in the state. Edwards is the only statewide elected Democrat, and Republicans hold a supermajority in the state House and Senate.
Louisiana’s governor’s race is one of only three in the nation this year. The others are in Kentucky and Mississippi.
