Jeff Landry will be the 57th governor of Louisiana after scoring a surprise outright victory in Saturday’s primary that gives him a mandate to move Louisiana to the right with a like-minded Legislature.
Landry, the Republican attorney general for the past eight years, will succeed Gov. John Bel Edwards in January, the Associated Press reported. Edwards has been the new governor’s Democratic foe.
Polls had forecast Landry to run first but be forced into a runoff by Shawn Wilson by capturing less than 50% of the vote. But Wilson underperformed, collecting only about half as many votes as the attorney general, and Landry picked up more votes than expected.