Former President Donald Trump formally endorsed Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry last week to be the next governor, strengthening his position as a GOP frontrunner in this year’s November election, according to election observers.
Landry campaign officials cast the Trump statement on May 8 as the latest in a series of endorsements in the Nov. 18 gubernatorial race. Previous Landry endorsements included the Louisiana Republican Party, congressional Rep. Clay Higgins, businessman Eddie Rispone and the Club for Growth.
“I am endorsing your Attorney General Jeff Landry for governor,” Trump said in a video statement. “He has been a fantastic attorney general. He wants to stop crime. He loves the people of Louisiana just like I do.”
Jessica Taylor, the Senate and governors editor for the Virginia-based Cook Political Report, said that because Louisiana has voted strongly in favor of Trump in past presidential elections, the Trump endorsement will be a benefit for Landry.
“Landry was already in the strongest position, and this helps him solidify his position among Republicans,” Taylor told the Louisiana Record.
In Louisiana, the governor’s race will include a “jungle primary” on Oct. 14, where candidates of all political parties and affiliations will compete. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the vote, a runoff will follow on Nov. 18 between the two top vote-getters, regardless of party..
As Democrats coalesce around the candidacy of former state Secretary of Transportation and Development Shawn Wilson, some of the outlines of the race have taken shape, Taylor said.
“This makes it all the more likely that this will be a traditional R vs. D race in the general election,” she said, adding that more moderate Republicans in the race, such as the former president of the Louisiana Association of Business and Industry, Stephen Waguespack, may have a steeper path to victory.
But it remains too early in the campaign to know if the race will be defined by national issues or whether voters will focus more on state and local concerns, according to Taylor.
The Louisiana gubernatorial race offers Republicans their best opportunity to pick up a governorship, she said, since the current officeholder is Democrat John Bel Edwards. But unlike in U.S. Senate elections, in which voters may cast their ballots to determine which party will control of the upper house, voters in gubernatorial races may be more inclined to split their votes, according to Taylor.
“In governors’ races, voters often choose the person, not the party,” she said.
Others who have launched campaigns for governor are Democrat Daniel Cole, state Sen. Sharon Hewitt (R-Slidell), Republican Xan John, state Rep. Richard Nelson (R-Mandeville), independent Hunter Lundy and Republican state Treasurer Jon Schroder.