A major Democratic candidate is now in the race for governor.
Shawn Wilson, who retired as the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development in February, launched his campaign Monday morning. Wilson's campaign website and social media pages went live, and Wilson released a campaign video announcing his candidacy.
This, according to one analyst, is a move that will reshape this race.
"Shawn Wilson is well-known statewide, and I expect Democrats and committed partisans to line up behind him," University of Louisiana political science professor Pearson Cross says. "He's going to be able to fundraise, and so there's a major Democratic candidate in the race, which there wasn't before, providing a home for those people who are not looking forward to voting for a Republican."
Dr. Cross says Wilson's name recognition from his time as the head of DOTD could give him a less difficult path to the governorship than Governor John Bel Edwards had.
"In some ways, he's probably better fitted than John Bel was in the sense that he's better known through his role at transportation," Dr. Cross said. "He's been around for eight years, and I think there are probably more people who know about him than who knew about John Bel at that point."
Dr. Cross acknowledges that Louisiana voters, generally, have not been kind to Democratic candidates or to candidates of color.
"African Americans running for statewide office have historically not succeeded, and so one has to wonder if Mr. Wilson will end up the same way that Bill Jefferson or Cleo Fields did in the '95 and '99 gubernatorial races," Dr. Cross said. "Racial attitudes have become less strident, and I think people are more willing to look (at a Black candidate). I think the election of Barack Obama nationwide . . . although he didn't do all that well in Louisiana, getting about 40 percent of the vote. But I think it's kind of a test of where we are at as a state and as a people. The other major factor that has to be considered is that Louisiana has become increasingly Republicans since then."
Still, Dr. Cross says Wilson has a legitimate shot at winning.
"It's possible, and it depends, as we saw, with David Vitter and John Bel Edwards," Dr. Cross said. "As we saw, many things depend on the actual campaign and the dynamics of that campaign and how the candidates are perceived. So although, right now, it seems like this is a state that's primed to elect a white Republican man to the governorship at this time, you can't ever say "never never." So there is certainly a possibility that Mr. Wilson could, in fact, make it."
If he wins the race, Wilson would become the first Black man to be elected governor of Louisiana and only the second to hold the post. P. B. S. Pinchback served as governor for one month--from December 9, 1872, to January 13, 1873--after the state legislature impeached Henry Clay Warmoth. Pinchback was also the first Black man to serve as governor of any U. S. state and only one of five Black governors in American history.
Attorney General Jeff Landry, state treasurer John Schroder, and state legislators Sharon Hewitt and Richard Nelson are among the Republican candidates who have announced that they are running.
