A new statewide poll shows some insight into who's in the lead to become the next governor of Louisiana.
"It's wide open right now," said pollster John Couvillon of JMC Analytics. "Undecided" leads his statewide poll of 600 likely voters with 29 percent.
With no announced candidates at this time, his poll asked about eight hypothetical candidates: Republican Senator John Kennedy, Democratic Baton Rouge Mayor/President Sharon Weston Broome, Republican Louisiana Attorney General Jeff Landry, Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, Republican Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, Democratic State Senator Gary Smith, Republican State Senator Sharon Hewitt, and Republican State Treasurer John Schroder.
While Kennedy looks like a lock for Senate reelection this fall, he led the list of names at 22 percent.
"Any discussion of future governor races for now inevitably involves his name being brought up," explained Couvillon.
Couvillon says something as simple as making an announcement could change the numbers.
"People who thought they were front runners cannot count on that being the case either now or going into the fall of 2023," he said. "There are going to be changes in the precise candidate configuration by the time we get to qualifying."
The poll has a margin of error of ± 4 percent.