Editorial Roundup: Louisiana
The Advocate. October 18, 2023.
Editorial: The Jeff Landry era begins
Louisiana awoke Sunday morning to a new political era, after Attorney General Jeff Landry won a clear majority of the votes cast in Saturday’s gubernatorial primary and was elected without the need for a runoff. That’s an impressive accomplishment, and it speaks to Landry’s ability to connect with many voters personally and to hone in on their concerns.
We congratulate Landry on a decisive victory and wish him well as he starts to put together his administration.
At the same time, we urge him to remember that, beginning in January, he will be governor of all Louisianans — the 52% of voters who cast their ballots for him, the 48% who preferred someone else, and the nearly two-thirds of registered voters (a deeply disappointing number) who sat out the most important election since Gov. John Bel Edwards won eight years ago.
The Times-Picayune endorsed a different candidate in the primary. But, like all Louisianans of good will, we want the Landry administration to succeed in ways that benefit the entire state.
Things will surely be different around the state Capitol come January. Edwards’ tenure was marked by a delicate balance of power between the Democratic chief executive and the Republican majority Legislature. Landry will have a Republican Legislature that is as conservative as he is.
There were skirmishes, to be sure, over politics and policy. But there also were accomplishments that had widespread buy-in. Edwards and lawmakers worked together to dig the state out of a $2 billion budget hole, invested in early childhood education and revised counterproductive laws that needlessly keep nonviolent offenders locked up.
But there is much left to do.
With young adults fleeing Louisiana to seek opportunities they can’t find here, our state faces a demoralizing brain drain. Severe weather driven by climate change has created a crisis in property insurance availability and affordability, which could make home ownership untenable for some residents. Crime, an issue that Landry emphasized throughout his campaign, remains a major concern. State government has a surplus now, but federal pandemic relief funds are drying up and the temporary sales tax enacted during Edwards’ first term will expire a year and a half into Landry’s term. We’ve seen before that budget cuts in lean times disproportionately affect health care and higher ed.
We’re pleased that Landry plans to keep at least one of Edwards’ most important policies in place: Medicaid expansion. We encourage him to be just as open to other good ideas no matter where they originate — particularly those that welcome businesses and their employees to our state.
Landry will take office at a time when national politics have become toxic to the point of dysfunction, and state politics risk becoming too focused on national issues. We urge Landry to resist the pull. We have more than our share of local challenges to overcome.
We’ve seen during his time as attorney general that he relishes a good fight. We hope, and expect, that Landry will fight for every single Louisianan, every day he’s in office.
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