The Louisiana Republican party executive committee voted last night to endorse Attorney General Jeff Landry in next year’s governor’s race.
Gambit political columnist Clancy DuBos says he's not surprised, because Landry has been working it:
"While the others trusted in the system, he rigged the system," DuBos told WWL's Newell Normand.
LaPolitics.com publisher Jeremy Alford called it historic - and controversial.
“You’ve got a lot of people upset about this. Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser said this isn’t communist china. You’ve got folks like Senator Sharon Hewitt calling it a backroom deal. Treasurer John Schroder said the same thing,” Alford said.
Alford said people are upset because the Republican State Central Committee canceled a larger endorsement meeting and the executive committee met digitally last night.
But Alford questioned how much the endorsement actually means.
“A state party endorsement probably means less today than it has meant in the last 35 years in Louisiana politics maybe. The parties have lost influence to super PACS,” Alford said
Alford added he sees this as a sign of Landry flexing his political muscles a year away from the election. And he believes the Louisiana Republican Party will benefit from Landry’s fundraising skills.
But with all that, he thinks the endorsements might actually backfire. He recalls the 2015 governor’s race when frontrunner David Vitter was hammered by other GOP candidates.
“And they most certainly damaged their fellow republican along the way as he inched toward the runoff and I think a lot of republicans right now are wondering if they could see a repeat of that,” Alford said.