Jeff Landry

Jeffrey Martin Landry (born December 23, 1970) is an American politician and attorney who has served since 2024 as the 57th governor of Louisiana. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 45th attorney general of Louisiana from 2016 to 2024 and as the U.S. representative for Louisiana's 3rd congressional district from 2011 to 2013.

Born in St. Martinville, Louisiana, Landry graduated from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law. He was a member of the Louisiana National Guard, which he joined while in high school, for 11 years. While in college, Landry worked as a police officer and sheriff's deputy. He ran for a seat in the Louisiana State Senate in 2007 but narrowly lost. He was elected to the U.S. Congress in 2010, serving one term until he lost his seat after redistricting.

Landry defeated incumbent Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell in 2015, and was reelected four years later with over 66% of the vote. During his tenure, he supported Louisiana's abortion ban, advocated for prayer in public schools, and challenged Governor John Bel Edwards on LGBT issues. Landry won the 2023 Louisiana gubernatorial election with a majority of the vote in the first round. As governor, Landry has signed several criminal justice bills, as well as legislation allowing the carrying of concealed weapons without a permit. He signed legislation requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms; that legislation is being challenged in the courts on the grounds that it unconstitutionally violates the separation of church and state.

Early life, education, and career
Landry was born in St. Martinville, Louisiana, on December 23, 1970, to Al and Edna (née Bienvenu) Landry. He is the oldest of four children. His mother was a teacher at Trinity Catholic School in St. Martinville. His father was an architect and businessman.

Landry graduated from St. Martinville High School, where he was a wideout on the high school football team. After graduating from high school, he held various jobs, including sugarcane farm worker, police officer for the village of Parks, and St. Martin Parish sheriff's deputy. He also spent 11 years in the Louisiana Army National Guard.

During his time as a St. Martin Parish deputy, he shared a rental home in St. Martinville with two friends, one a childhood friend, and the other a fellow deputy. The fellow deputy smuggled about $10,000 worth of cocaine and stashed it underneath their home. Once his roommates caught on to the crime, they turned him into the police, who executed a search warrant, which Landry signed. After the 1993 search of the home, his roommate lost his job and went to prison. After Landry's opponent in an acrimonious 2010 Republican primary election raised the incident, District Attorney J. Phil Haney said that Landry was never implicated in any crime, and Landry said he remained a reserve deputy until 2004.

Landry attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana (which later became the University of Louisiana at Lafayette), graduating in 1999 with an environmental science degree. In 2001, he enrolled in Southern University Law School as a part-time student; he transferred to Loyola University New Orleans College of Law in 2003 as a full-time student, and received his J.D. in December 2004. He then became an attorney and businessman in New Iberia.

2007 State Senate election
In 2007, Landry ran for Louisiana's 22nd Senate district when incumbent Republican state senator Craig Romero was term-limited. In the general election, he faced Democratic state Representative Troy Hebert of Jeanerette; Hebert later declared himself an Independent. Hebert defeated Landry, 51% to 49%.

2010
Landry entered the race to represent Louisiana's 3rd congressional district after Democratic incumbent Charlie Melancon relinquished the seat to run for U.S. Senate. Landry won the Republican nomination in the October 2 runoff election, defeating former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives Hunt Downer of Houma, Louisiana, 19,657 votes to 10,549 votes (65%–35%).

2012
Louisiana lost a congressional district due to out-migration during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Landry's district was dismantled and its territory split among three neighboring districts. Landry was drawn into the same district as fellow Republican Charles Boustany of the neighboring 7th District. The new district retained Landry's district number—the 3rd—but geographically and demographically was more Boustany's district; Landry retained only the western third of his old district.

Citizens United and Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee endorsed Landry. He led Boustany in third-quarter 2011 fundraising, $251,000 to $218,000. According to the Federal Election Commission, Boustany led in cash on hand, $1.1 million–$402,000.

In the November 6 election, Landry trailed Boustany by 45,596 votes. Boustany led the five-candidate field with 139,123 votes (44.7%); Landry received 93,527 (30%). Democrat Ron Richard procured 67,070 votes (21.5%); and 7,908 votes (2.5%) and 3,765 votes (1.2%) were cast for Republican Bryan Barrilleaux and Libertarian Jim Stark, respectively. Because none of the candidates received a majority, Boustany and Landry went into a runoff contest held on December 8.

Boustany defeated Landry with 58,820 votes (60.9%), to Landry's 37,764 (39.1%). Landry prevailed in three of the ten parishes in the revised district, all of which he then represented, including his home parish of St. Martin, his residence of Iberia, and St. Mary Parish.

Tenure
During his tenure in Congress, Landry was known as an advocate for the oil and natural gas industry. He heavily criticized President Obama, saying, "Republicans continue to criticize the president for being anti-oil. He says that's not true, but his actions don't match his rhetoric."

Landry made national headlines by holding up a sign saying "Drilling=jobs" during Obama's national jobs plan speech in September 2011. After the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Landry opposed the liability cap on BP while supporting the Gulf Hurricane Protection Project.

In a June 2012 appearance on a radio program produced by the American Center for Law and Justice, Landry baselessly claimed that the Obama administration was "granting special status or waivers to Muslims as they go through TSA screenings." No such religious exemption existed.

In July 2012, Landry made local headlines when he declared his opposition to the establishment of a minor in LGBT studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and wrote a letter to the university's president, Joe Savoie, asking him to drop the minor. Savoie declined to do so, writing that the program "did not require budgetary allocations or divert resources from other areas" and that the university had a responsibility to impartially provide "an opportunity for investigation, analysis, and understanding" of controversial social issues.

2015
On February 24, 2014, Landry announced his challenge to Caldwell, who was first elected in 2007 as a Democrat. The Democratic nominee, Geri Broussard Baloney, an African-American lawyer from Garyville, endorsed Landry in the runoff contest. After he assumed office, Landry named Baloney's daughter, Quendi Baloney, to a position in his administration. The Baton Rouge Advocate questioned whether the appointment was made on merit or for political reasons. Landry defended his choice by citing the education and experience of Ms. Baloney, a graduate of George Washington University and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law who was formerly employed by the United States Department of Justice. She investigated housing discrimination by Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Baloney and her colleagues secured a $2.7 million settlement from Sterling.

2019
In August 2018, Landry indicated that he might forego his bid for reelection as attorney general in 2019 and instead challenge Governor John Bel Edwards, who was seeking a second term. Landry said that people everywhere approached him and urged him to seek the governorship. He said he might run unless U.S. Senator John N. Kennedy decided to enter the race, and called upon interested Republican candidates to announce their intentions. Landry had broken with Edwards on numerous political issues, including a 2018 voter referendum on requiring unanimous jury consent for felony convictions, rather than 10 of 12 jurors. Only Louisiana and Oregon have the lower threshold.

In November, Landry announced that he would not run for governor but instead seek reelection as attorney general.

Landry chairs the Louisiana Committee for a Conservative Majority, which targeted "Republican in Name Only" (RINO) state legislators in the 2019 elections. He has said he wants party faithful to rally around conservative orthodoxy, rather than a big tent.

On October 12, 2019, Landry was reelected by a 2–1 margin.

In December 2022, an investigation by The Advocate revealed that, starting in 2017, Landry misspent campaign funds on part of a car note on a Chevrolet Suburban. The Louisiana Board of Ethics decided not to take any action on the matter because the statute of limitations for action had expired. The $322 monthly payments ended in 2019 and totaled about $11,600.

Abortion
Landry opposes access to abortion, and argued in favor of Louisiana's abortion ban. He recommended that anyone who disagrees with the policy, without exception for rape or incest or age, move to another state.

In August 2022, Landry twice urged the Louisiana State Bond Commission to delay funding for a power station that charges drainage pumps in New Orleans over the city's decriminalization of abortion following the state's near-total ban of abortion in July 2022. In September 2022, the commission approved the funding despite Landry's objections.

Antitrust
Landry has urged bipartisan cooperation on antitrust enforcement, and endorsed President Joe Biden's nomination of Jonathan Kanter as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.

Common Core
Soon after taking office as attorney general, Landry became embroiled in a public dispute with Governor Edwards over a lawsuit regarding the Common Core State Standards Initiative, which both men opposed. Edwards said the state would drop the appeal of a federal lawsuit to block the implementation of Common Core, declaring the lawsuit moot because of new federal legislation, the Every Student Succeeds Act, and a state legislative compromise agreed upon in 2015, the last year of the Bobby Jindal administration. Landry first replied that he would review the case and could proceed with the appeal to the federal court. Edwards wrote to Landry: "As in any case the client, not the attorney, should ultimately make the decisions on the course of action, and I have decided this case will not proceed." A few days later, Landry announced that, having reviewed the matter, he would defer to Edwards and drop the suit.

LGBT issues
In September 2016, Landry announced that he would block Edwards's attempt to require that state contracts protect gay and lesbian employees from discrimination based on sexual orientation. Edwards sued Landry over his refusal to approve the contracts. In a press conference, Landry vowed, "I will not cower to executive overreach; rather, I will continue to defend our Constitution and the will of the people." On December 14, 2016, Judge Todd Hernandez of Baton Rouge declared Edwards's order unconstitutional even though Edwards maintained that his directive exempted contractors who are also tied to religious organizations. Landry claimed that Edwards's directive would have established a new "protected class" that does not exist in state law. Landry had already successfully blocked dozens of legal services contracts that included the gay-rights language. He told radio talk show host Moon Griffon that he hoped his legal victory over Edwards would persuade him not to attempt to govern by executive orders to the extent that President Barack Obama did.

In March 2017, Edwards announced that he would appeal the LGBT case Landry won before Judge Hernandez. In a speech in West Monroe before the Ouachita Republican Women, Landry said that Edwards was "playing petty politics" by seeking cuts in the attorney general's office budget while state highways "continue to fail" and that U.S. News & World Report declared that Louisiana is "back to being 50th again" and was ranked "the worst state". Landry also said that Edwards voted for most of the Jindal administration's budgets yet continued to claim that he is blameless for the state's ongoing budget crisis, which he sought to resolve by raising taxes.

Local control
In 2016, Landry became embroiled in a dispute with Mitch Landrieu, the Democratic mayor of New Orleans, over failed efforts to curtail street crime in New Orleans. Landry named a task force on the issue without consulting the Louisiana State Police or the New Orleans Police Department. He claimed that crime in New Orleans is "more dangerous than Chicago". NOPD Superintendent Michael S. Harrison said that Landry had ignored the city home rule charter and did not have the authority "to engage in active law enforcement in New Orleans." Landrieu claimed that Landry's task force had placed state troopers' and city police officers' lives in jeopardy.

Budget dispute
In April 2017, Landry again filed suit against Edwards; this time, he disputed the freezing of $4 million in an escrow fund obtained from a pharmaceutical settlement in 2013, when Buddy Caldwell was state attorney general. Landry claimed that his office was entitled to the funds because it must generate revenues to meet a portion of its own budget. Edwards replied that Landry was fighting budget cuts that have also been imposed on other state offices. "It's another dog and pony show", Edwards said of the suit. Landry called Edwards "an emperor ... a predictable and vindictive Washington-style politician more concerned with political points than the people's business. By playing petty partisan politics, the governor is jeopardizing the operations of the Louisiana Department of Justice." Three months later, Landry withdrew the suit, which became moot after State Senator Bret Allain, vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee, brokered a compromise that transferred $2.7 million to Landry's office operations.

DACA
In July 2017, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton led a group of Republican attorneys general from nine other states, including Louisiana, as well as Idaho Governor Butch Otter, in threatening the Donald Trump administration that they would litigate if Trump did not terminate the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals policy that President Obama had put into place. Tennessee Attorney General Herbert Slatery reversed his position and withdrew his participation in the proposed suit on August 31. Slatery went further, urging passage of the DREAM Act.

Religious views
In April 2018, Landry joined U.S. Representative Mike Johnson of LA's 4th congressional district and Christian actor Kirk Cameron to argue under the First Amendment for student-led prayer and religious expression in public schools. Landry and Johnson appeared with Cameron on a promotional video and at prayer rallies at the First Baptist Church of Minden and Bossier Parish Community College in Bossier City. The gatherings were organized by area pastors, including Brad Jurkovich of First Baptist Bossier, in response to a lawsuit filed in February against the Bossier Parish School Board and the superintendent, Scott Smith. The board and the superintendent were accused of allowing teachers to incorporate various aspects of Christianity in their class presentations.

NAAG presidency
In 2018, Landry was elected to a one-year term as president of the National Association of Attorneys General. In 2019, Landry declined to sign a letter in support of the SAFE Banking Act, which would permit marijuana-related businesses to use the banking system.

2020 U.S. presidential election
On December 8, 2020, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the states of Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, where certified results showed Joe Biden the electoral victor over President Trump. Landry joined the lawsuit and an amicus brief filed by the Missouri AG, seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election by challenging election processes in four states Trump lost. 16 other state attorneys general who supported Paxton's challenge of the election results alleged numerous instances of unconstitutional actions in the four states' presidential ballot tallies, arguments that had already been rejected in other state and federal courts. In Texas v. Pennsylvania, Paxton asked the United States Supreme Court to invalidate the four states' combined 62 electoral votes, allowing Trump to be declared the winner of the election. On December 11, the U.S. Supreme Court quickly rejected the suit in an unsigned opinion.

Opposition to COVID-19 vaccine requirement
In 2021, Landry sued the federal government for a requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, calling the requirement an "unconstitutional and immoral attack" on health care workers. He has accepted $25,000 in political donations from American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Pfizer as of 2024.

Whistleblower lawsuit
In November 2021, the former district attorney's office criminal division deputy director, Matthew Derbes, sued Landry, alleging that he not only concealed records instrumental to Derbes's sexual harassment complaints, but also retaliated against Derbes. The previous year, Derbes filed a complaint against his immediate supervisor, Pat Magee, over his inappropriate treatment of women in the office. According to the suit, investigations were hampered by the office and the complaints were deliberately mischaracterized to avoid the reporting requirements. Additionally, when reporters filed public-records requests, Landry sued and asked a judge to seal all records, something that the editor of The Advocate, Peter Kovacs, characterized as wholly egregious, saying, "In my 40 years as an editor, I’ve never seen a journalist get sued for requesting a public record". A judge sided with the press and, once new complaints arose against Magee, he resigned. Following the resignation, Landry released a memo with enough publicly identifiable information to expose Derbes as the whistleblower.

2023 election
On October 5, 2022, Landry launched his campaign for governor of Louisiana in the 2023 election. He was endorsed by the Republican Party of Louisiana and former president Donald Trump. In September 2023, the Louisiana Board of Ethics charged Landry with accepting a gift in relation to his position as state attorney general. Landry was also accused of accepting private air travel from campaign donors. Furthermore, the charging document claims Landry did not report the complimentary flights in financial disclosures to the Ethics Board. Landry called the charges "election interference" and blamed Governor Edwards, who appoints board members.

Landry was elected governor in the primary election on October 14, 2023, with 52% of the vote, averting a runoff election. His closest competitor, Democrat and former Louisiana transportation secretary Shawn Wilson, received 25% of the vote.

Tenure
On January 7, 2024, Landry took a ceremonial oath and delivered his inaugural address on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol; the event was held a day before he took office as governor due to expectations for bad weather. The Louisiana state constitution requires gubernatorial terms to begin at noon on the second Monday in January.

Two weeks after taking office, Landry signed a redistricting bill the state legislature had passed to redraw Louisiana's congressional districts, in order to comply with a federal court order requiring that a second Black-majority district be created in the state under the terms of the Voting Rights Act. In May, he signed a bill that redrew Louisiana's seven State Supreme Court districts for the first time in over two decades, creating a second Black-majority district in the process per the recommendation of five of the state's Supreme Court justices.

In March 2024, Landry signed several bills that reversed criminal justice reforms initiated by the 2017 Justice Reinvestment Initiative. Landry eliminated parole, dramatically cut the ability of convicts to earn points for good behavior in prison, increased penalties for carjackings and weapons offenses, and permitted two more methods of execution (nitrogen gas and electrocution). He also signed a bill to allow people to carry concealed handguns without permits.

In June, Louisiana became the first state to mandate posting the Ten Commandments in every public school classroom. Landry signed the bill into law and called it "one of [his] favorites". Days before signing the bill, he said: "I can't wait to be sued" over the law. Hours after its signing, four civil liberties groups challenged the law.

Personal life
Landry and his wife, the former Sharon LeBlanc, have one son. He and his family are Roman Catholic.

While serving in Congress, Landry kept an apartment in Washington, D.C., while his wife and son resided in Louisiana.