Jeff Landry is now officially a candidate for governor. So are Shawn Wilson, John Schroder, Stephen Waguespack, Sharon Hewitt, Richard Nelson, Hunter Lundy and nine others.
Yet when I think about the state of the contest to succeed term-limited Gov. John Bel Edwards now that qualifying has closed, the name at the top of my mind is Bill Cassidy.
Not that I believe a single voter will be swayed by the senator’s endorsement of Landry, the divisive attorney general who remains the highest-polling candidate. But, after Cassidy distanced himself from both the Trump-centric MAGA world that Landry embraces (and that embraces him) and the brand of performative partisanship that the A.G. practices, Cassidy's awkward show of support for his front-running fellow Republican reverberates.
I’ll get to what it says about Cassidy in a minute. But first, let’s talk about what the endorsement tells us about the current state of the governor’s race.
For a year now, the biggest unknown has been whether a more moderate, mainstream Republican would be able to put together enough of a coalition to give Landry a real challenge.
Cassidy considered doing it himself before he decided to stay in Washington. Still, his profile suggested that he would have landed in the Anybody-But-Landry camp, at least quietly.
Cassidy is the lone member of Louisiana’s GOP delegation who has repeatedly stood up to the nonsense permeating his party. He’s the one who refused to vote to reject any state’s duly affirmed electors after Donald Trump unleashed a violent attack on Congress to stop Joe Biden’s repeatedly verified win. He’s the one who didn’t side with Trump during impeachment proceedings over his role in instigating the horrors of that day — earning himself a censure from the Louisiana Republican Party, which is fully behind Landry.
On policy, he was the only Louisiana Republican in Congress who deigned to work with Democrats on a massive infrastructure bill that is already steering huge investment into our state; in fact, he helped write the bill and made sure Louisiana priorities were included, despite his GOP colleagues’ nakedly partisan claims that they’re not. Those same colleagues now shamelessly take credit for steering billions to Louisiana, after voting against the bill that provided those billions.
Landry, meanwhile, enthusiastically backed Trump’s effort to undermine confidence in the presidential election results, has the thrice-indicted ex-president’s endorsement and declared himself “extremely disappointed” in Cassidy’s principled vote to convict Trump following his second impeachment.
Despite some of the things he’s now saying on the campaign trail, Landry has shown little inclination to put ideology aside for the greater good. His tenure as A.G. has been marked by legal fights with Edwards and Biden over one hot-button issue after another, and the type of crusades — to crack down on librarians, fight public health initiatives and criminalize doctors who perform abortions even under dangerous medical circumstances — that appeal to his party’s right flank but surely alienate many in the middle.
Is this the type of governor that most Louisianans want? Judging by Edwards’ continued popularity, I doubt it. But given the state's overall voting patterns, it could well be what they’d get if Landry remains the Republican front-runner and makes a runoff against Wilson, the only major Democrat in the race.
An alternative is the Anybody-But-Landry path, a move to steer support to a more moderate Republican by creating momentum ahead of the Oct. 14 primary. That’s a tricky proposition. It requires not just a consensus alternative (instead of the several in the field now), but the sort of united front that would presumably include people like Cassidy.
Cassidy offered his reasons for making the surprise move, of course, but they are unconvincing. Take flood insurance, an issue the senator highlighted in his videotaped endorsement; it’s actually a federal program that Cassidy and his colleagues in Congress have long struggled to keep affordable. Sure, a Gov. Landry could lend his moral support, but any Louisiana governor would do the same.
And what does Cassidy get for his endorsement of Landry?
Absolution from those who’ve spent the last couple of years bashing him? Hard to imagine, given that party purists generally don't forgive any slight of Trump or cooperation with Biden.
At least some understanding of his desire to mend Republican fences from those who have admired his politically risky support for election integrity and his bipartisan pragmatism? Not likely, judging from the conversations I’ve had with some of those folks; they’re furious at Cassidy for becoming a willing Landry trophy — and sending defeatist signals to voters who long to rally behind a viable alternative.
He has accomplished one thing, though: Thanks to Cassidy, Landry now starts the formal election season as even more of a front-runner than he already was.