It still remains to be seen who’s in or out for the 2023 gubernatorial race as several candidates wait to see if Senator John Kennedy makes it official. Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser said he’ll conduct polling this weekend to see if he’ll run or not. But according to political analyst Bernie Pinsonat, until Kennedy decides, a poll is meaningless.
"I think you run your poll after Kennedy," explained Pinsonat. "If Kennedy decides to run there’s no poll that’s going to show you’re going to be ahead of Kennedy or beating Kennedy with him in the poll."
Pinsonat said there are several factors Nungesser needs to take into consideration, for example, campaign funds, can he outraise Kennedy? And with Jeff Landry in the race, can Nungesser capture enough support from conservative Republicans?
"Kennedy’s very conservative, Landry’s very conservative, you can’t push to the right of them, so where are you going to get your vote," Pinsonat questioned.
While polling is important, Pinsonat said in this case with the Kennedy factor unknown he believes Nungesser needs to take other factors into consideration.
"You have to do a lot of soul searching. Do you want to give up a statewide job as Lt. Governor knowing that you’re running against John Kennedy who already has millions in the bank? That’s the bottom line," said Pinsonat.
State Transportation Secretary and Democrat Shawn Wilson said he’s putting together an exploratory committee to consider the 2023 governor’s race.
