BATON ROUGE, La. — Louisiana state Rep. John Stefanski, a Republican, announced his 2023 bid for Attorney General on Monday.
Stefanski chairs the House and Governmental Affairs Committee, which was recently at the center of a contentious redistricting battle. The Crowley lawmaker led House GOP redistricting efforts, helping push through a congressional map that contains five majority-white districts — all of which favor Republican incumbents. Despite a federal judge ruling that the political boundaries dilute Black voter power and ordering that two of the six districts be majority-Black, the U.S. Supreme Court put on hold the lower court ruling.
The Louisiana Attorney General seat — which holds the highest legal authority in the state’s executive branch — is currently held by Jeff Landry, who is expected to run for governor next year. The position is the chief legal officer of the state and agency head of the Louisiana Department of Justice. While the attorney general largely handles civil litigation, they also have a role in prosecuting Medicaid fraud and child pornography cases. Most recently, Landry has been at the forefront of a legal battle over the state’s near-total abortion ban.
“Defending Louisiana Families means more than just fighting violent crime. It means defending Louisiana families from federal and state overreach,” Stefanski said in a written statement. “It means defending Louisiana families from corrupt politicians. It means defending life and liberty. It means defending our way of life by any means necessary.”
Stefanski, 38, is an attorney who was first elected to the legislature in 2017.
Other possible candidates for the seat include Republican Liz Murrill, who currently works at the Louisiana Attorney General’s Office, and Union/Lincoln Parish district attorney John Belton, an independent. The election will take place on Nov. 18, 2023.
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