Former Democratic Governor John Bel Edwards tells The Advocate despite the Democrats’ strong showing in the midterm elections, he had no plans of making another run for governor. Edwards spoke with Advocate Political reporter Tyler Bridges.
“He told me that he is absolutely not going to be a candidate, is not trying to play word games; he and his wife had already decided, even before Tuesday, that he’s not going to be a candidate,” Bridges said.
Any potential talk of Edwards seeking to return to the governor’s mansion effectively became moot when voters passed Amendment Four, limiting governors to two lifetime terms. That means barring any court challenges to test the retroactivity of the amendment, Edwards and Bobby Jindal are now ineligible to run for governor; and if Governor Landry wins re-election next year, he will be permanently ineligible to seek a third term.
However, Bridges expects Democrats to have a strong challenger to Landry’s re-election bid next year. Bridges says Jamie Davis, who lost by only two percentage points to Republican Julia Letlow in the U.S. Senate race, is a maybe. Former Lieutenant Governor and New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is a possibility. He says State Senator Jay Luneau of Alexandria is expressing interest.
“Big personality; a guy who knows politics well. He’s closely thinking about it,” Bridges noted.
Bridges says it’s also possible the governor will face a challenger from within his own party. He says Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser’s name has been mentioned, but he may decide to run for re-election to his current office instead. Bridges says State Treasurer John Fleming is also a name to watch.
“He ran strongly against Julia Letlow in the Republican primary, ended up losing to her in the runoff, but won a lot of fans for his conservative message,” Bridges explained.
Bridges says whoever decides to challenge Governor Landry will have to combat his huge campaign war chest, which is at least $10 million.