Republican gubernatorial candidate Jeff Landry won Louisiana’s election in a landslide to flip the state’s governor seat red in a shocking upset that avoids facing off with a Democrat in runoff this November.
Landry, the state’s attorney general who was endorsed by former President Donald Trump, won 52% of the vote Saturday to avoid a gubernatorial runoff in a major victory for the GOP.
Landry will replace current Gov. John Bel Edwards (D), who could not run again due to term limits.
From Breitbart News:
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.
“Today’s election says that our state is united,” Landry said during his victory speech Saturday night. “It’s a wake up call and it’s a message that everyone should hear loud and clear, that we the people in this state are going to expect more out of our government from here on out.”
20231014 LOUISIANA GOVERNOR RACE
Gov.-Elect Jeff Landry (R) Acceptance Speech#JeffLandry #Louisiana #LouisianaGov pic.twitter.com/WPRTuKzJzi— Robert Waloven (@comlabman) October 15, 2023
Trump took a victory lap on Truth Social Sunday, congratulating Landry for flipping the state red.
“BIG WIN IN LOUISIANA LAST NIGHT. A REPUBLICAN REPLACES A DEMOCRAT GOVERNOR. NICE!”
Watch Landry’s full victory speech: