Louisiana 2023 gubernatorial election megathread

[Benjamin Frank]

I don't know about 'seriously contesting' but Democrats are making a credible effort at least in that the party has rallied around Shawn Wilson, JBE's former Transportation Secretary.

Just because he hasn't held an elected office previously, I don't think he should be regarded as  a writeoff.

https://www.wilsonforla.com/

Louisiana governor’s race: Wilson campaign raises nearly $580K in 30 days
https://www.brproud.com/news/louisiana-governors-race-wilson-campaign-raises-nearly-580k-in-30-days/


As the only Democrat of any profile running, he should at least make the runoff.

After that, it's unlikely he'll win, but there are paths to victory if he runs against Jeff Landry and especially against Stephen Waguespack who was Governor Bobby Jindal's Chief of Staff.

[Benjamin Frank]

Any possibility Shawn Wilson doesn't make the runoff?

[Benjamin Frank]

Is there any Republican running who would be palatable to Democratic voters? It seems the only way Demcratic voters could defeat Jeff Landry in the runoff is to back a different Republican.

[Benjamin Frank]

Secretary of State website results
https://voterportal.sos.la.gov/static/2023-10-14/resultsRace/Statewide

[Benjamin Frank]

None of Orleans is in yet — feeling pretty confident this is going to a runoff.

Will Landry win outright? Parish the thought.

[Benjamin Frank]

Seeing some chatter on X that LSU having a home game tonight may have dampened dem and black turnout in EBR

That’s a 100+k people that potentially did not vote due to tailgating all day plus being at game tonight

Long-standing culture of early voting in LA so not buying this.

E-Day turnout WAS bad. Early voting turnout was…also bad! A failure on many counts.

How does it compare to previously? It's still nearly an average of 200,000 votes per Congressional district, which is usually pretty good for a primary in most states (of course, this is a different type of primary than in most states, but still.)

Also, congratulations to Louisiana for counting virtually all the ballots in just three hours.