Attorney General Jeff Landry hasn’t officially announced he’s running for governor, but the hats and t-shirts emblazoned with “Team Landry Governor” that he handed out at a recent event, according to reporting by The Advocate, don’t leave much to the imagination.
The news of his near-launch was one of the least surprising things I’ve heard all year.
Landry has already been running for governor for four years as he continues to put Louisiana in the national spotlight for all the wrong reasons, contributing to our collective embarrassment.
The prospect of Landry as governor makes me severely concerned for the future of Louisiana.
The attorney general has made it clear that he doesn’t value the people of Louisiana. In fact, he openly questions their intelligence by pushing the state into indefensible lawsuits that leave taxpayers on the hook for lousy political stunts.
In his latest display of using his office for his own political advancement, Landry filed a brief in support of former President Donald Trump in his Mar-a-Lago records case, which doesn’t involve the state of Louisiana and does nothing but stroke the ego of a former president.
All the brief succeeds in is easing Landry’s craving for continual validation and attention from the far-flung fringes of the Republican Party.
The Republican Party has become increasingly defined by this fringe wing headed by the Trump family and a cast of characters working to fit into the plot, including governors Greg Abbott of Texas and Ron DeSantis of Florida.
One such character could be found at Landry’s de-facto campaign launch. Donald Trump Jr. attended Landry’s annual gator hunt in St. Martinville where tickets cost up to $50,000.
Landry has spent the last six years painting himself in the image of Trump, so in some ways, the visit was the least his family could offer. After all, they say imitation is the best form of flattery.
Louisianians are lucky to enjoy a principled and effective governor who can be expected to do what is best for the state.
Under Gov. John Bel Edwards, the state has expanded Medicaid, reinvested in education, reformed our criminal justice system and laid a strong financial foundation for the future with the administration projecting additional surplus dollars from last year’s budget.
Electing Landry as governor would return Louisiana to a playbook that we are all too familiar with: a politician with aspirations for national office using the state as one big political statement. A politician who — if former Gov. Bobby Jindal is any indicator — will leave the state in ruins.
Jindal’s eight years as governor left the state with a $1.6 billion budget shortfall and a real risk of serious cuts to services. Edwards took over in 2016 and restored stability to the state.
Landry isn’t running for governor to make state government work for the people of Louisiana. He’s running to make Louisiana work for Jeff and his political ambitions.
Charlie Stephens is a 21-year-old political communication senior from Baton Rouge.
