We're two months away from the Louisiana senate primary elections, and the race is turning ugly.
One candidate, John Fleming, has accused Governor Jeff Landry of meddling in the race after he endorsed his opponent, Julia Letlow. Meanwhile, Fleming's former congressional colleague, Ralph Abraham, has joined Letlow's campaign as its chairman.
According to one analyst, this intraparty among Louisiana's Republicans is a result of their own doing.
"All of this infighting is in large part a direct result of our new closed primary system," LaPolitics.com publisher Jeremy Alford said of the newly-implemented Congressional election system championed by Louisiana Governor Jeff Landry and approved by the Republican-controlled Louisiana Legislature. "Republicans had such a stranglehold on the state that they had no one left to fight but themselves."
Although Alford believes the winner of the Republican primary likely win the November general election, he believes these battles could reshape the Louisiana GOP.
"It could create some new divisions (or) new divides where you have allies working against allies."
Will these factions within the Republican Party unite behind the primary winner? Alford says time will tell.
"I think you're going to see a mix," Alford said, noting that the Republicans who ran for governor in 2015 and missed the runoff, Scott Angelle and Jay Dardenne, didn't rally behind David Vitter, allowing Democrat John Bel Edwards to win. "There were a few statewide events where the party was hoping for a 'kumbaya' moment and was hoping for endorsements, and that didn't exactly happen then."
Does this mean Governor Jeff Landry has lost control of the his party? Alford says "no." In fact, Alford believes Landry's grip on state government and state politics is as strong as ever.
"He has his hands on a lot of the pressure points around the state," Alford said.
Alford notes that despite the infighting, the winner of the Republican primary will most likely win the November general election.