Republican Jeff Landry won a landslide election on Saturday to flip the Louisiana governor’s mansion red in one of three main gubernatorial elections this year, shocking political observers with a victory that saves him the trouble of having to face a Democrat in a November runoff.
Landry defeated Democrat Shawn Wilson and the rest of the field in Louisiana’s gubernatorial election, winning about 52 percent of the vote. In Louisiana, governor elections are first open to a full field of all candidates from either party in what is known as a jungle primary—and then the two top vote-getters generally advance to a runoff a month later. But if a candidate gets more than 50 percent of the vote, as Landry did here, they can win outright on jungle primary day.
Many were expecting Landry, the clear and convincing frontrunner who has been the Attorney General of Louisiana for many years after a stint in Congress, to easily advance to the runoff and face Wilson in November. But his overwhelmingly strong performance on Saturday put him above majority support as the Associated Press called the race with him easily north of the 50 percent mark, meaning Landry will be the next governor of Louisiana.
BREAKING: Republican Jeff Landry wins election for governor in Louisiana. #APRaceCall at 10:15 p.m. CDT. https://t.co/BkpxdgZBfx
— AP Politics (@AP_Politics) October 15, 2023
Landry will replace outgoing Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat who is close with Democrat President Joe Biden, next year. His convincing victory in a deep south state represents one such gubernatorial flip this year out of two opportunities for Republicans to do so. The other major governor election happening in 2023 in which the GOP can take a state from the Democrats is in Kentucky, where GOP Attorney General Daniel Cameron faces incumbent Democrat Gov. Andy Beshear. In Mississippi, Republican Gov. Tate Reeves is also running for reelection, hoping to fend off a Democrat challenger.
Landry, in a post to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, after his victory, thanked the voters of Louisiana and said he is ready to get to work:
Thankful beyond belief. I’m ready to get to work for Louisiana!
— Jeff Landry (@JeffLandry) October 15, 2023
Republicans nationally were overjoyed by Landry’s decisive victory, too, with Republican Governors Association chairwoman Gov. Kim Reynolds of Iowa saying his law and order vision is popular in the state.
“Congratulations to Governor-Elect Jeff Landry on tonight’s impressive victory. Governor-Elect Landry stands for law and order, putting Louisiana families first, and building opportunity and economic prosperity,” Reynolds said. “We look forward to working with Governor-Elect Landry as Louisiana’s next governor and congratulate him for flipping Louisiana red and putting away his race early.”
Landry’s win is also a clear win for former President Donald Trump, who endorsed Landry and was actively encouraging his supporters in Louisiana to vote for him in the governor’s race.
In an appearance on Breitbart News Saturday on SiriusXM 125 the Patriot Channel this summer, Landry predicted that a gubernatorial victory for Republicans in Louisiana this year would be a shot in the arm for Trump’s presidential prospects next year–and that electing people like him as governors in states nationwide will help with Trump’s vision of trying to “Make America Great Again.”
“When we have a critical mass of governors who believe in the same philosophy: freedom, liberty, independence, and less government, you know, a balanced approach to being sure that when we balance Wall Street and Main Street, America can go back to being great again,” Landry said.
