Louisiana Gov. was elected with 51.6% of the vote in 2023. Fewer than chose Landry to replace Gov. John Bel Edwards.
Landry called it a .
A clear plurality, yes. A clear majority, well, yes. A mandate, no.
In , the guv had four constitutional amendments on the ballot, things he said needed to be changed, quickly, to move the state forward. He and his super-majority Republican Legislature sought to make more underage suspects subject to more felonies by adding to the list of eligible felony crimes, rewrite the state tax code and, remember this, they wanted to expand the court system.
All four amendments went down in flames. Each was defeated by more than 60% of the vote. Black, Democratic and liberal-progressive people got the credit. The voter turnout expectation of 12% jumped to a 21% reality, and we-love-Jeff-but voters helped.
This month, there were five constitutional amendments on the ballot. Amendment 1 sought to significantly broaden the number of unclassified state government jobs, giving the Legislature the freedom to reclassify unidentified jobs and subject them to at-will status. Amendment 2 would’ve given the new, predominantly White city of St. George its own school district, breaking away from the mostly Black East Baton Rouge Parish school district. Amendment 3 proposed public school teacher pay raises, but only by dissolving long-standing trust funds. Amendment 4 would’ve given local governments the option to reduce some business property taxes based on inventory. Amendment 5 would have raised the retirement age for state judges from 70 to 75, a change that would have affected about 40 judges.
Some quick, postelection analyses pointed to Black power voting and heavy Democratic turnout as the primary reasons why the amendments failed. I saw something different.
Black and Democratic voters may have led the charge, but White, Republican conservatives who once loved Landry have had enough.
More than 70% of the votes in Landry’s home parish, chose Landry as governor in 2023, but 50% of them voted no on the spring 2025 ballot amendments. This month, his parish voted 54% no on the teacher pay raise and 57% on the business inventory amendment. They voted 62% no on Amendment 2 and a whopping 74% and 75% no on Amendments 1 and 5, respectively.
I looked outside of New Orleans to neighboring suburban parishes. I saw the same thing. In Jefferson Parish, where the population is roughly 50% White and 50% Black and Latino, more people voted on the amendments (about 71,000 or more on each one) than voted for U.S. Senate closed primary elections (fewer than 65,600), and Jeff voters overwhelmingly voted no on four of the five amendments.
Cameron Parish is small in Republican southwest Louisiana. It’s more than 93% White. Four of the five amendments were rejected, with margins of 57%-70%.
Livingston Parish is Republican and about 91% White. Voters there said yes to St. George getting its own school district and yes to folding trust funds to give teachers a raise. But Amendments 1, 4, and 5 went down with 74%, 62% and 77% of the votes.
St. Tammany Parish is more than 70% White and Republican. Shy of 50,400 people voted in the U.S. Senate primaries, but four of the five amendments went down by percentages of 51%-72%.
These are a few examples showing that what happened on May 16 was driven by Black and Democratic voters and buttressed by White Republicans who don’t trust their man Jeff when it comes to fundamental, significant changes.
Landry had a 56% approval rating in early 2024. That dropped to about 51% in late 2025. Now he’s polling about 36%. One recent poll indicated that 58% either disapprove of how Landry is leading or they’re unsure.
These weren’t polls of Black and Democratic people. Each included a cross-section of Louisianans.
Landry has a 0-9 record on constitutional amendments. There’s a recall Landry movement that’s picked up enough support that GOP operatives decided they had to respond with a “don’t recall” push. Hundreds of people have been showing up to oppose the proposed 5-1 congressional district map pushed by the governor and the Republican-led Legislature, diluting Black representation.
If I were the governor, I’d slow things down, perhaps to a halt, and consider alternative options.
He can start by doing what’s best for Louisiana, not what’s best for President Donald Trump.