Does Jeff Landry have a winning message? Pollster gives his take

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry has been anything but hesitant to speak out against whatever political issue that has people talking.

But opponents in his own party, who are also running for governor, are not as quick to be the loudest voices on some of the more popular issues. Political analyst Bernie Pinsonat said Landry will eventually need to dial back if he intends to win.

“Mike Foster did that years ago,” said Pinsonat. “That’s what he did to get that Republican base out to vote. So, Jeff Landry’s not doing anything that differently.”

Pinsonat believes social issues coming from Washington are the biggest divider in our state.

“We’re not that divided on taxes. We’re not that divided on how government works. But transgender, by the way, was the most energetic issue I’ve ever seen. You got the library stuff right now. Those are the things that are pushing the state. But it’s not pushing us away from government,” explained Pinsonat.

In a state like ours, one of the poorest states in the nation, with 43% on Medicaid and a large number of voters on government programs, Pinsonat said it’s almost impossible to focus your campaign on cutting those very programs and still win.

“You don’t have any choice. You can’t sit out there and rail against government programs, and now, you’re governor. You may think you can, but you’re not going to be very popular,” added Pinsonat.

And the Democrats are still waiting for their candidate. Maria Weber is a registered Democrat and is worried no one will step up.

“I would definitely like to see a Democrat candidate just to make it fair for everyone because everyone needs to have a voice, so I definitely want to see that,” said Weber.

She added she likes what Gov. John Bel Edwards, a Democrat, has done in his time and hopes whomever the candidate is will continue some of the work he started. But she also said crime is at the top of her list of things to fix and wished more was done about it in recent years.

“I think it could have gotten better. It could have gotten better but it’s a tough job, you know. I know one person can’t do it and that it’s a team of people, but it seems that it has gotten a little bit worse,” explained Weber.

DOTD Secretary Dr. Shawn Wilson recently stepped down, gearing up for what appears to be a bid for governor as a Democrat.

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