NEW ORLEANS — Republican candidate and State Attorney General Jeff Landry claimed the Louisiana governor's race with a majority win in the 2023 gubernatorial primary on Saturday.
As of 11:30 p.m., the latest election returns showed Landry with 51 percent of the votes (546,983) with 3,922 of the 3,929 precincts reporting. Democrat Shawn Wilson ran second with 26 percent (275,466), followed by Republicans Stephen Waguespack (62,260) and John Schroder (56,648) with five percent each.
"Jeff Landry's vote was the most motivated vote in the race," WWL-TV political analyst Clancy DuBos said. "And that counts more than anything on election day."
The polls closed 13 hours after opening at 7 a.m. on Saturday with several statewide and local parish offices and amendments on the ballot, including races for lieutenant governor, secretary of state, treasurer and attorney general.
"I believe Jeff Landry will run first tonight," DuBos said following the polls closing at 8 p.m. "But the question is, will he get the majority?"
With the majority win, Landry becomes the first attorney general to win the Louisiana governor's seat since former LSU football captain Ruffin Golson Pleasant in 1916.
All candidates, regardless of party affiliation, competed in an open primary in which a winner can be declared outright with more than 50 percent of the vote.
If no candidate received the majority total, the two top vote recipients from the primary advance to a run-off in the general election to be held on Nov. 18.
This open-primary system is used for all Louisiana office, including state, parish, municipal and congressional, with the exception f the presidential preference primary.
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