Louisiana's newly sworn-in Governor Jeff Landry is endorsing former President Donald Trump as a 2024 presidential candidate, Breitbart News has exclusively learned.
“The great people of Louisiana overwhelmingly voted for President Donald Trump twice, and I stand with them,” Landry said in a statement provided exclusively to Breitbart News by his team. “That's why I'm honored to support Donald J. Trump, one of the greatest presidents in our nation's history. President Trump last year ended eight years of Democratic rule in Baton Rouge. They helped write history.”
Landry's support for Trump comes after Trump's shocking 2023 victory in Louisiana, where he defeated all challengers in the jungle primary and won the governor's mansion without even needing a runoff. It was later. Landry, last year's Republican nominee and then-attorney general, has always been the frontrunner in Louisiana's gubernatorial race, but state-level elections in Louisiana are a little different than in most other states. First, the October jungle primary pits all candidates from all political parties against each other, including Republicans, Democrats, independents, and third parties. The top two vote-getters then proceed to a runoff, usually sometime in November. Except if someone gets more than 50% of him in the jungle primary, which is rare. In the end, Landry shocked political observers across the country and Louisiana by winning more than 50% of the vote, without even needing a runoff, and at the governor's mansion on Jungle Preliminary Day.
“President Trump is leading the Republican ticket in November, and his America First platform will deliver overwhelming victories across the country from the White House to statehouses,” Landry said in a statement supporting Trump. continued inside. “President Donald J. Trump will secure our borders, protect our communities, and finally stop the rampant inflation that so many hardworking Louisianans have endured. As our new governor, we will make Louisiana and America great again. I look forward to working with President Trump to achieve this goal.”
Landry's victory in the 2023 election marks the only major flip from party to party in last year's gubernatorial race. For eight years before Mr. Landry's victory, Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards (now a former governor) had unexpectedly led ruby-colored Louisiana. But in 2023, Landry successfully moved Louisiana from Democratic control to Republican control. In two other gubernatorial elections last year, incumbents were re-elected, with Republican Tate Reeves winning in Mississippi and Democrat Andy Beshear winning in Kentucky. Another major change in the 2023 off-year elections is that the Democratic Party narrowly gained a majority in the Virginia House of Delegates from the Republican Party's previous narrow majority.
As the Iowa caucuses approach on Monday, many leading Republicans have solidified their support for Trump in recent weeks. Landry's most recent predecessor was Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), chairman of the Senate Republican Conference and the highest-ranking member of the Senate Republican leadership and a Trump supporter. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) recently endorsed Trump, and in recent weeks, all House Republican leaders, including Speaker Mike Johnson, Majority Leader Steve Scalise and Majority Leader Tom Emmer, have endorsed Trump. I support Mr. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chair of the House Republican Conference, did so early in Trump's 2024 presidential campaign.
