Louisiana’s governor race may be nine months away from election day, but it’s already begun to take shape with multiple candidates either declared or actively considering jumping into the race.
Louisiana operates under an open primary system, known as a jungle primary, in which every declared candidate is put on the same ballot regardless of party affiliation. A candidate who gets the majority of votes wins, but if no candidate reaches that majority, the top two vote-getters, regardless of party, advance into a runoff where whoever gets the most votes wins.
Louisiana is one of three states with a gubernatorial election this year and will be tasked with deciding who will replace the term-limited Gov. John Bel Edwards, who is the only Democratic governor in the Deep South.
Republicans appear eager to put an end to that Democratic irregularity, with a total of five GOP candidates declared for the race so far:
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Attorney General Jeff Landry
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State Senate Majority Leader Sharon Hewitt
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State Representative Richard Nelson
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State Treasurer John Schroder
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Businessman Xan John (who says he supports Landry and doesn’t expect to win)
Landry, who jumped into the race first in October, was quickly endorsed by the Louisiana Republican Party. He’s a Trump-aligned conservative who’s made headlines most recently for his push to restrict children’s access to certain library books.
Though he was swiftly endorsed by his party, not all within are backing Landry.
“The notion that a handful of people could go into a back room and emerge with an endorsement of a candidate without ever considering others who are running or considering running is arrogant, ill-conceived and detrimental to the party,” Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, a Republican, said in a statement about Landry’s endorsement.
Nungesser opted to run for another term as lieutenant governor, putting more eyes on Congressman Garret Graves, a Republican from Baton Rouge, as another potential candidate.
Graves so far has been noncommittal about the race.
“Right now, I’m 100% focused on my campaign and my job now in Congress,” Graves said when asked about his candidacy in an interview with the USA Today Network.
On the Democratic side, things are less clear, with only a LaSalle Parish teacher named Daniel Cole officially throwing his hat into the ring. State Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson may jump into the race still as a Democrat, according to the Louisiana Illuminator.
Katie Bernhardt, chair of the state Democratic Party, signaled interest in entering the race with a TV ad but opted not to run after facing widespread backlash from inside her party.
Hunter Lundy, an Independent and Lake Charles attorney, has also declared as a candidate.
It’s unclear how Gov. Edwards will be involved in the race.
“I just don’t know if Edwards is going to get involved this early,” said LSU political communication professor Robert Mann. “He may lay back and wait until the end to have the most impact…But I’m certain that he wants to support a candidate who will not undo his legacy, and if he can’t find that, publicly or not I think he’s going to be behind whoever’s running against Jeff Landry.”
