Former Economic Development Director and Businessman Jeff Landry Releases Fifth TV Ad: “Field of Dreams”

LAFAYETTE, La. - Today, Jeff Landry released his fifth televised advertisement in his campaign for Governor of Louisiana. The ad highlights Jeff's background and accomplishments as a former economic development director, business owner, and someone who has employed hundreds of Louisiana citizens. Jeff beat out Texas and brought government and industry together to bring economic growth to Louisiana. See the full ad here.

 “Where once there were no jobs, now there’s growth and opportunity. 

 A young man on a mission brought government and industry together and helped Louisiana beat Texas to win a Fortune 500 company. 

 That young man and future leader—Jeff Landry. 

 Jeff’s work set in motion an economic boom generating millions for safe streets and a better quality of life.”

 Background:

In 1998, Jeff was selected as Executive Director of the St. Martin Parish Economic Development Authority (SMEDA). Landry successfully brought industry, the parish and state government and the community together to secure Baker Hughes, a Fortune 500 company, for the St. Martinville area. Today, because of Jeff's work, the St. Martinville Industrial Park has grown to over ninety different companies. Over the past 20 years this project, created under Landry’s leadership, has generated over $100 million in tax revenues for the area—funding schools, roads, police and infrastructure improvements.  

 In the late 90s, Baker Hughes operated multiple divisions across Louisiana and was moving towards shuttering them and relocating all operations to Texas as an efficiency measure.  Jeff Landry and the SMEDA team took immediate action and were able to create a package that bested any offer Texas had on the table and bring home a massive economic development win for Louisiana. “Baker Hughes had just about decided on a location in Texas,” said Dale Huval, a current member of SMEDA. “But the tremendous effort put forth by Jeff Landry, Governor Mike Foster and numerous other state and local leaders, they turned the deal around. Today the St. Martinville Industrial Park is an economic engine for the region.”

 News quotes regarding the project:

 March groundbreaking for $25 million project. After two years of intense negotiations, construction plans for the Fortune 500 company’s St. Martin Parish consolidation have been released.

Teche News, February 28, 1998

 Jeff worked many long hours and tiring days to accomplish the goals, and he did it with vision and dignity.” 

Fred Mills, SMEDA President, Teche News, November 18, 1998

 “I didn’t realize how big an operation this was going to be,” 

Gov. Mike Foster, Teche News, April 22, 1998

 -“That was one of the reasons we settled in the area. Everybody pulled so hard from the governmental side on down, we felt these guys were really working with us.” 

Ed Howell, President of Baker Oil Tools, Teche News, July 1, 1998

LANDRY: The Opioid Crisis

AG Jeff Landry with Iberia Parish Sheriff Tommy Romero with a Drug Take Back Box.

On January 10, 1980, the New England Journal of Medicine published a letter claiming that prescription opioids rarely lead to addiction. It would go on to be “heavily” and “uncritically” cited to support the prescription practices that followed. Fast forward forty years, and we’ve got popular shows like Hulu’s Dopesick and Netflix’s Painkiller highlighting the damage this has done to communities across our Nation.  

For too long, there were more opioid prescriptions than people in Louisiana; and it is estimated that 120 Americans die of an overdose every day — a rate that has tripled since 1999. For reference, Purdue Pharma’s “miracle drug” OxyContin was released in 1995.  

Targeting blue collar workers susceptible to work-related injuries, the Big Pharma giant encouraged physicians to prescribe these time-released doses of oxycodone — a cousin of heroin twice as powerful as morphine — for pain ranging from arthritis and back injuries to fibromyalgia and headaches. Sales reps claimed that, despite preconceptions about opioids, “fewer than 1% of patients who took OxyContin became addicted.”  

This was proven absolutely untrue as a surge of addiction soon fed a wave of armed robbery, violent crime, prostitution, and theft as job and child abandonment rates increased. At the same time, sales of OxyContin in the United States outpaced those of Viagra while more than 30,000 coupons for the addictive drug were used. And by 2011, the CDC had declared an opioid epidemic.  

That, however, did not stop production of other pain relievers. Fentanyl, which is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine, soon became a household name — though most people are unaware that they are even consuming fentanyl, until it’s far too late. Today, opioids account for 69% of drug overdose deaths, a rate that has doubled since 2010. And most synthetic opioids are far stronger and more dangerous than the drugs used ten years ago. That is why this has become an international crisis over the past two decades, one that has certainly affected our State.  

When I became Attorney General, I made the opioid epidemic a priority of my office. Knowing that roughly 60% of addicts start their addiction with someone else’s prescription, we set out to educate on the dangers of opioids and counterfeit drugs, then collaborated with law enforcement to provide drug take back boxes across our State. We also leveraged a legal settlement to provide our first responders with free vouchers for Naloxone. Then, we pushed Congress to repeal the shielding of manufacturers and distributors from accountability. 

My Consumer Protection Division also reached a settlement with the consulting firm who advised Purdue Pharma on how to maximize their profits by targeting high-volume prescribers, encouraging doctors to increase prescriptions, and circumventing pharmacy restrictions. When states began to sue Purdue, the firm advised deleting documents to hide the truth; yet in collaboration with 47 other states, we held them accountable.  

Furthermore, our office led negotiations alongside other attorneys general to reach an historic agreement with CVS and Walgreens for their role in this crisis, resulting in $10.7 billion in opioid relief funds to be paid over the next decade. Monies will be allocated to local governments and parishes and used to remediate this crisis, from prevention and harm reduction to treatment and recovery services.  

Unfortunately, after Purdue reformulated OxyContin to reduce drug abuse — namely by preventing abusers from snorting and injecting the ground up pill — addicts turned to heroin. This created a new market for drug cartels in Mexico, who have since abused our border crisis to further feed crime, drug addiction, and overdose deaths in our communities.  

This why my office has been relentless in fighting open border policies that benefit human traffickers and drug dealers. As Attorney General, I defended ICE, fought Sanctuary Cities, pushed for Title 42 to remain in place, and sued the Biden Administration in federal court to keep our asylum process fair rather than issue blank checks of citizenship to criminals. We also continue to call for the resignation of DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, who has made a bad situation far worse.  

Sadly, none of that offers much comfort to those who have lost their loved ones to the opioid crisis. No law, policy, or lawsuit will ever bring their family members back from a fatal overdose. But what we can do is prevent someone else from succumbing to this horrible situation, and that is what I will continue to fight for as long as I remain in office. The great people of our State are not alone; and together, we will turn the tide. 

Jeff Landry
Louisiana Attorney General

Jeff Landry Receives Louisiana Sheriffs' Association Endorsement

Lafayette, La. — Today, Jeff Landry received the endorsement of the Louisiana Sheriffs' Association (LSA) in his race for Governor of Louisiana. The LSA is a bipartisan organization, composed of Louisiana’s 64 sheriffs and nearly 14,000 deputy sheriffs, established to represent Louisiana’s chief law enforcement officers across the state.

 “Members of the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association proudly stand with Jeff Landry because of his lifelong support of law enforcement. From his earliest years of experience as a sheriff’s deputy, to his consistent continued efforts to be tough on violent crime, sheriffs are honored to partner with him for a safer Louisiana,” said Sheriff Doug Hebert, President of the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association.  

 “I am extremely humbled by the support of the Louisiana Sheriffs’ Association. The sheriffs and their employees are community heroes who put their lives on the line everyday to keep us safe. As a former police officer and sheriff’s deputy, I understand the difficulties faced by those in law enforcement and I will always stand by and support them.  As Governor, I look forward to working closely with our sheriffs to make Louisiana a safer state in which to live, work, and raise a family,” said Jeff Landry.   

An Appeal for Freedom of Thought

Our Big Tech Censorship Case at the Fifth Circuit

It may be hard to believe that there are people in their thirties and forties who can recall a time before the Internet. Yet in this small window of time, we have witnessed a complete evolution of communication online, especially when it comes to individuals with a certain level of experience or passionate curiosity transformed into action. That’s why, at the same time Yahoo!, eBay, Google, and PayPal were being created, we also saw the rise of the online freelancer, the blogger, the digital business owner, the social media community founder, and the thought leader. The glue holding this together has always been the freedom of ideas and their expression. 

Amazon outwitted Sears by creating a catalogue of products online; but it wasn’t books, supplements, or random life hack gadgets that made it a monolith of the digital sphere. It was the fact that Amazon’s algorithm favored highly niche interests, connecting shoppers with specific books, ideas, and tools they could never purchase at their local shop. That’s why brick and mortar businesses have struggled to compete: they lack infinite shelf-space and rely on mainstream hits. Not so with the Internet; the digital sphere favors the obscure and hard-to-find. However, it is precisely that ability to veer towards personal niche rather than mainstream opinion that has made the Internet a marketplace of thought. 

Even more appealing was the fact that you no longer needed to wait for the evening news to learn about major events. Chances are, someone was tweeting or live streaming in real time, having the advantage of already being on the scene. You no longer had to depend on pundits force feeding you analysis on current events within a limited scope — you had access to a sea of experts presenting their research online. And you no longer had to wait for someone to tell you how to think or what was important — you could figure it out for yourself. Simply by being curious, you could use the cellphone in your pocket to expand your knowledge, worldview, and perspective far better than any school, with an education personally tailored for and by you.

That is what the Biden Administration has deliberately tried to take away from you, claiming your mental capacity as their “cognitive infrastructure.” Through pervasive censorship efforts, they have attempted to destroy your freedoms of thought, learning, and speech enabled by the Internet. Biden’s bureaucrats have coerced, encouraged and even threatened social media companies to create more restrictive policies, enforce them more aggressively, silence entire topics, and deplatform certain speakers — all in the name of control. And the major social media companies reluctantly complied.  

The example given at the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals by my Special Assistant Attorney General John Sauer was this: Imagine if the White House press secretary stood at the podium and demanded that all major booksellers remove and burn books that criticized the Administration, or the federal government would destroy their business. And what if, at the same time, those booksellers were getting relentless emails from the FBI and White House staff with encrypted lists of books to be burned and constant pressure to get it done? That is exactly what happened here; but the bonfires were digital and unrestricted, scorching everything from parody to scientific findings that refuted a government narrative. 

This is why our case against the federal government is so very important, not just to the people of Louisiana or Missouri but to all Americans. Could you imagine if Thomas Paine or Thomas Jefferson had been censored? What about Paul Revere? (You can research and debunk that thanks to the Internet.) What is an American if not someone who believes freedom of speech and thought is their birthright? Aren’t Americans meant to be individualists? 

That is what’s at stake should the bureaucrats win this case, because it will determine what freedom of speech looks like in the digital age, who among us should have it — and why. Will we have a golden age of ideas and individualism envisioned by the early days of the Internet, or will we be dragged back into the narrow minded past because the bureaucratic elite couldn’t tolerate freedom of thought or the competition of ideas? 

The panel of judges at the Fifth Circuit will now decide this. However, the Constitution is clear, our evidence is damning, and we fully expect to win this battle in the end — because these are the challenges that define a Nation, not by how we struggle but in how we overcome.  

Jeff Landry
Louisiana Attorney General

Landry Launches Fourth TV Ad on Education

“My mother was a school teacher. She believed in teaching kids how to think, not what to think.  

 Today, too many classrooms are filled with woke politics instead of teaching.    

 We are going to fix that.    

 My plan gets us back to the basics: reading, writing, and math.  

 Parents not politicians deserve control.    

 Teachers should be respected.    

 These are our schools, our children, and they deserve the absolute best.”  

LANDRY: Our State Police Crime Lab

When we talk about crime in Louisiana, it is easy to forget the silent workforce that bridges the gap between a crime scene and the court room – often enabling justice to be served through the collection, analysis, and interpretation of evidence. Yet during my recent visit to the Louisiana State Police Crime Lab, I was reminded of the hard and emotionally challenging work that these professionals perform on a daily basis despite a lack of funding, an enormous backlog of cases, and a broken criminal justice system. 

Public servants at the Crime Lab understand the opioid crisis ravaging Louisiana from a completely different perspective than most. Analysts there have witnessed a significant shift in the types of drugs and quantities that end up in the Lab since the Governor’s Criminal Justice Reform, which labeled drug dealing a nonviolent offense and lowered the mandatory sentencing associated with it. 

In 2020, only 7% of blood samples brought to this Crime Lab had traces of fentanyl. By 2022, it was found in 23% of them. Today, it is estimated that 1 in 5 people arrested for a DWI have fentanyl in their system; yet our children are often deceived by counterfeits containing this deadly drug, and without a tolerance built up, many overdose from a single pill. Similarly, relapse for addicts is now a death sentence rather than part of recovery. 

Even THC diverted from Colorado can be found in the Lab, with a single edible capable of holding 600mg. Sadly, children often confuse these for normal snacks, resulting in a spike of accidental exposures to massive quantities of THC. But drugs are only the tip of the iceberg for this Crime Lab, which is on the front line of our crime epidemic, containing evidence from roughly 3,400 cases related to violent crime and sexual assault. 

While there are seven crime labs operating across the State, all doing equally important work, this Lab tests roughly 6,000 pieces of evidence each year and has not been able to keep up with demand – especially since New Orleans has yet to re-establish its own crime lab post-Katrina. Roughly 30% of the total volume in Baton Rouge is related to cases from the Big Easy, which has experienced an enormous spike in violent crime and sexual assaults since COVID. As a result, the Crime Lab is constantly expanding and overflowing with evidence.  

Working in teams, analysts can process 15 to 20 cases at a time, with each case typically having 20-35 samples. An analyst can also expect to individually work two to five cases. Yet, due to backlog, a DNA case can take three to four months (as opposed to 30 days) to complete. Unfortunately, some cases could be waiting for years; and everyone knows this is unsustainable if we are to truly address Louisiana’s crime problem. 

That is why this Crime Lab is actively seeking to make their work faster and more efficient without compromising accuracy. One technological advancement playing a role in this is Rapid DNA. Currently, the only FBI/NDIS authorized Rapid DNA program is in two booking stations with two more coming online soon. Between the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff Office and the Livingston Parish Sheriff Office, over 600 arrestees have been enrolled in this program with a Rapid DNA profile created within 90 minutes. The next advancement would be Crime Scene Rapid, which the FBI is hoping to authorize by January 2025. 

As for sexual assault, ACT 193 – introduced by Senator Beth Mizell and supported by both the Louisiana State Police and the Louisiana Sexual Assault Oversight Commission – will enable victims to track their kits, along with all law enforcement, hospitals, Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners, DAs, crime labs, and coroners. Through these efforts, we hope to provide greater transparency to victims and further accountability across the board. 

In the meantime, scientists based in the Crime Lab are constantly continuing their education on new technology, with trainings ranging from one month to over a year. In fact, it takes about two years of training before a recent grad is able to work a case by themselves and new technology can cost half a million dollars. The Lab itself is also moving to paperless operations for even greater efficiency. But by investing in the latest technology and the education of our workforce, we can make a difference in our State — and that is exactly what must happen moving forward. 

Jeff Landry
Louisiana Attorney General

Jeff Landry Qualifies to Run for Governor of Louisiana

BATON ROUGE, La. — Today, Jeff Landry qualified to run for Governor of Louisiana. Jeff Landry is the official endorsed candidate by the Louisiana Republican Party. He also has the support of President Donald Trump, Senator Bill Cassidy, Congressman Mike Johnson, Congressman Clay Higgins, former Congressman Ralph Abraham, businessman Eddie Rispone, businessman Boysie Bollinger,  as well as numerous Republican Parish Executive Committees, sheriffs, and District Attorneys across Louisiana.  

“For far too long, Louisiana has been at the bottom of every good list and the top of every bad list. This election is our opportunity to change our State and put Louisiana on a path to success. As a former police officer and sheriff’s deputy, no one is better suited to address our State’s crime problem. As a business owner and former economic development director, I know what our local businesses need to succeed. As the son of a school teacher, I understand that the most important voice in a child’s education is the parents. Louisianans know what is at stake in this election, and that is why we are running to be Louisiana’s next Governor. Because together, we can make Louisiana a state as good as her people,” said Jeff Landry. 

LANDRY: Our Fight Against Domestic Violence

When cadets attend a law enforcement academy, they can expect to learn about physical fitness, firearms safety, marksmanship, writing reports, and the legal aspects of their future job. They also learn how to interrogate a suspect, as well as how to look for inconsistent or overly rehearsed stories. Yet, in cases of domestic violence, these particular skillsets do not offer a complete appreciation of the signs and evidence needed to protect crime victims or law enforcement officers.   

Louisiana is ranked 5th in the Nation for domestic violence homicides, and the longer a victim waits to contact law enforcement, the more dangerous the situation becomes. Perpetrators are usually volatile and violent by the time police arrive on the scene; yet officers are often overworked, backup is typically not available, and if things go south, it will take time for additional manpower to arrive — time they might not have. Unfortunately, for these reasons, the most dangerous calls for law enforcement often relate to domestic violence. 

To minimize such risks, the slow burn of domestic violence must be better understood, as well as the culture insulating it. Victims of abuse are often shamed into silence, with the belief that they should have been stronger, tougher, braver, or bold. As a result, few disclose what happens at home until the situation has escalated to a dangerous level, or family and friends learn of it far too late.  

Domestic violence is never something experienced on a first date. Instead, the escalation of abuse is slow, like water carving into rock. It’s also confusing. In many cases, a victim will genuinely love their abuser, not for the violence — but because of the inevitable good times they share as well. There’s also long-term manipulation to consider, trauma bonding that may have occurred as early as childhood, and previous experiences that make controlling behavior, chaos, and daily interrogations feel like love. These consistent experiences ultimately change a victim’s brain chemistry, making them more likely to accept a dangerous situation and even stay in it far longer than they should. It’s also what makes it that much more difficult to leave.  

Imagine if a police officer entered your home on a domestic violence call and declared, “You have to leave him right now — tonight. You have twenty minutes to gather your things.” You have to pack your belongings, as well as the necessities for any children or pets. Then, where do you go? There are shelters available, but what if the nearest shelter is full or a long drive from home? What’s the plan? Many victims don’t have one, even though the most dangerous time in that relationship is when they try to leave.  

Tragically, the dangers of staying can be even worse, as witnessed during the COVID pandemic. Once the lockdowns began, there was a sharp decrease in calls made to 911 for domestic violence. Victims were completely isolated, and no one saw the bruises because no one was going to work, church, or even family gatherings. And by the time victims did call 911, the situation was considered severe.  

Post-COVID, there has been a distinct rise in calls, along with an increase in strangulation cases and domestic violence homicides. For greater context, when a person is strangled in a domestic violence situation, they are 750x more likely to be murdered by their perpetrator with a firearm. Moreover, that same perpetrator is more likely to murder a law enforcement officer when they arrive on the scene.  

That is why the Louisiana Department of Justice has fought to prepare law enforcement for these tumultuous calls — not only to protect the citizens of Louisiana but to also protect themselves. We’re teaching officers how to better serve the victims of domestic violence by changing their hardwired interrogation tactics, so that a victim’s story of abuse can be told in a way that makes sense to them, highlighting sensory experiences and flashes of memory that might not be linear or follow a traditional script. Finally, we encourage victims to contact their local domestic violence center and create a safety plan, whether they are ready to leave or not.  

As Attorney General, we have learned that it is the time we spend now, in preparation, that saves lives, which is why our team has hosted several dozen trainings attended by thousands involved in the criminal justice system over the past seven years. Through these efforts, we have protected the sanctity of life while enabling victims to tell their stories, leave their perpetrators, and ultimately change the pattern of abuse. But it all starts with education, and that is why we are actively guiding law enforcement on this path forward. 

Jeff Landry
Louisiana Attorney General

Sen. Bill Cassidy Endorses Jeff Landry for Louisiana Governor

Landry Launches Third TV Ad: Sharon

Lafayette, La. — Today, Jeff Landry released his third televised advertisement in his campaign for Governor of Louisiana. This is a continuation of his seven-figure ad buy. It will be broadcast statewide on tv, digital, and social media. The ad is narrated by Jeff Landry’s wife-Sharon. She explains Jeff’s love for our State and how he considers the people of Louisiana his family. 

 “Growing up in a small town, everyone was family to Jeff and that’s never changed. 

Jeff Landry loves his State and the people here are family to him. 

In Congress and now as Attorney General, Jeff has given his whole heart to protect our State.  

As Governor, he will fight for you, stand up for you, and always have your back. 

Because that’s what family does.” 

 ###

Louisiana AG Jeff Landry: ‘Protecting Innocence Means Speaking Up’

There’s a myth about the Titan god Cronus who, for fear of being overthrown, proceeded to devour each of his children. His wife Rhea, being cunning, protected their last child Zeus by feeding her husband a stone. Once Zeus was grown, he overthrew his father and banished him to the deepest pit of the underworld – beginning the Age of Mount Olympus.

Such myths, for their symbolism and imagination, are vessels for deeper lessons; and the lesson here is that certain Ages devour children. Perhaps, we are in such an Age right now; and it’s going to take good parents like Rhea to defend our innocent kids from destruction. As Louisiana’s attorney general, I have prioritized protecting children – especially from exploitation.

Read more: Louisiana AG Jeff Landry: ‘Protecting Innocence Means Speaking Up’

LANDRY: Think Different: How to Change Louisiana’s Economy

CNBC has ranked Louisiana #49 in America’s Top States for Businesses for 2023. Last year, our State was ranked #48 on that same list. In 2021, we were ranked 44th. Why the low ranking? We were given F’s in Workforce, Infrastructure, Health, and Innovation. We got D’s in Economy, Business Friendliness, and Access to Capital. The only thing we seem to be doing right is that we’re cheap — but that’s not enough to stop this downward trend. 

More than 10% of mortgages in our State are underwater — the worst figure in the Nation. As pointed out in our recent lawsuit against FEMA, this will only get worse thanks to Risk Rating 2.0, or “Equity in Action,” which has altered flood maps and increased flood insurance rates astronomically. For these reasons and more, people are leaving Louisiana in droves, seeking better opportunities for themselves and their families. 

Meanwhile, the Southeast leads the Nation for economic strength, according to CNBC. South Carolina — ranking #7 for Best Economies — is booming, and they’re not that different from us. They have ports, coastal towns, and even similar demographics; but that State has greatly surpassed us in economic prosperity over the past 30 years. They don’t even have S&P 500 companies headquartered there, yet South Carolina is considered one of the most popular places to start a business and build equity in your biggest asset — your home. 

Similarly, Tennessee is boasting the nation’s second-fastest growing economy, acquired mostly through manufacturing. Georgia is reclaiming its old position as a mecca for business and prosperity. Texas added nearly 630,000 jobs last year with payrolls ranking among the best in the country. And Florida is still booming from the COVID days, with the strongest economic growth, a balanced housing market, and plenty of job opportunities. We’re even trailing behind Mississippi and Arkansas. Why? 

Three reasons: workforce, infrastructure, and taxes. Our Education system might be squeaking by on this score board, but the fact of the matter is, we have too many people investing in worthless degrees rather than critical skills that our State desperately needs, such as welding, engineering, and cyber innovation. We need to return to the trades, and prepare students for careers that can actually offer a respectable living, high quality of life, and the ability to build a family, buy a home, and achieve stability. A Gender Studies degree doesn’t contribute to our State; the ability to build, repair, and envision something different might. 

Next, our infrastructure needs investment. Take Highway 30 for example, where half a billion dollars in annual wages and over 4,000 jobs in Ascension Parish rely on this stretch of road. The highway was supposed to be widened to six lanes years ago, but no action has been taken, resulting in major bottlenecks, traffic jams, and damage to our communities. But that’s only one example of Louisiana’s decline when it comes to our critical roads and bridges. Without the proper infrastructure, we will continue to struggle economically, because who wants to build a business when no one can get there? 

Finally, our tax system absolutely needs an overhaul so that Louisiana can be a State where businesses are eager to invest. We must reform and modernize our tax code, improve customer service, and compete with states like Texas and Tennessee on a project by project basis. But all of this will take time, just as it took time for Louisiana to slide down to the bottom of the list. We must be vigilant, we need to be smart, and we must embrace change — because one thing is clear: what we’ve been doing hasn’t worked and we’re only getting left behind. 

If Louisiana is to join the ranks of Southern States that are succeeding, we must make different choices. We want the people of Louisiana to be proud of our culture and our food, but also our work, our creations, and our ingenuity. We want people to move back home, and bring their talent back to our State. But to do that, we need to imagine New Orleans being more like Charleston or Nashville; Bossier City more like Phoenix and Tampa; and our infrastructure more like leaders such as Minnesota and the Dakotas. That is possible — but it requires us to choose differently, and this is our year to do just that. 

Jeff Landry
Louisiana Attorney General

We're Going to Defeat Big Tech Censorship: Louisiana AG and Gov Candidate Jeff Landry on his Historic Legal Battle

PRESS RELEASE: CFNL Releases State-Wide Poll for Governor / Legislature

Citizens for a New Louisiana is proud to release a statewide poll conducted July 6-10, which surveyed the Governor’s race and public opinion of the State Legislature. The poll was conducted by Greg Rigamer, with Bernie Pinsonat providing political analysis.

Jeff Landry continues to dominate the field, receiving 30% of those surveyed with democrat Shawn Wilson coming in second place with 20%. All other gubernatorial candidates polled in single digits.

70% of those surveyed believe that the state legislature was irresponsible in the preparation and passing of the state budget. Only 10% felt that they acted responsibly. Furthermore, 55% think the state is heading in the wrong direction compared to 24% who think it is in the right direction.

Read more: PRESS RELEASE: CFNL Releases State-Wide Poll for Governor / Legislature

Landry Reports $9 Million Cash on Hand, $4.5 Million Raised Since April

 Historic $2 million raised in the month of June 

Lafayette, La. — Today, Jeff Landry announced that he has $9 million cash on hand with $4.5 million raised from April 8 to July 7. In June, a historically difficult time to raise money, Jeff Landry raised a record amount of over $2 million. 

“I am incredibly grateful for the outpouring of support from people across our state. Louisiana deserves a government as good as her people,” said Jeff Landry. “With your continued support we will finally have safer communities, a great education system, and bring jobs and talent back home.”

LANDRY: Why BESE is Wrong on LEAP

Louisiana has dominated the country recently for our athletic achievements. Last month, LSU won college baseball’s World Series - the seventh national championship in program history. In the Spring, Kim Mulkey led LSU’s women’s basketball team to a national title. And this week, LSU became the only SEC school to have the top overall pick in the four major professional drafts (MLB, NBA, WNBA, and NFL). Clearly, our State’s schools can be a breeding ground for champions. So why are we so complacent when it comes to education?  

Recently, the Louisiana Board of Elementary and Second Education (BESE), announced its support for a waiver system that would ultimately remove the LEAP test requirement. If BESE were allowing students to opt-out of these exams because they were succeeding -- with excellent grades, strong work ethic, and the ability to complete a special project related to their chosen profession -- that would be one thing. But BESE is actually lowering standards at our public schools simply to pass children through the system like a subpar widget on an industrial conveyor belt – and with that I take issue.   

Granted, it is the opinion of our office that BESE is within the law in removing the LEAP requirement; but just because you can do something does not mean that you should. According to witnesses at a recent school board meeting discussing this very issue, we learned that there are students in this State who are graduating at the top of their class while illiterate. Roughly 46% of our public schools have an “A” or “B” rating while only 30% of their students can read at their grade level. And we have employers in this State complaining because their recent hires can’t read or do basic math. That is probably why some at BESE believe that the Legislature should mandate LEAP tests, removing this decision from their board entirely — because we have to uphold basic standards in education one way or another. 

As the son of a school teacher who was incredibly passionate about her work, I can tell you that if teachers were allowed to teach, inspire and fan an inherent passion for learning, rather than be tied to a multiple choice test, we might not be in this predicament. However, we simply cannot let students graduate from high school and enter the workforce if they cannot read. In fact, students should not be allowed to graduate from the third grade without being able to read — let alone reach college illiterate.   

Yet every time we lower standards for our children we harm them. And I am willing to wager that if a student is able to graduate without being able to reach the most basic levels of proficiency in reading and arithmetic, they will fail in their career endeavors — resulting in many inevitably falling into a life of crime or addiction. It can’t be a coincidence that as we lower our educational standards we also see a surge in juvenile crime, with the consequences for such crimes drastically watered down as well. By reducing our standards, lowering our expectations, and just letting people pass go without any challenges to overcome whatsoever, we produce under-educated citizens for our State who are unable to move up and out of their circumstances, further feeding our sense of hopelessness. 

Of course, this does not apply to athletics. If sports coaches at LSU have poor performances for more than one season, they get fired and their programs are overhauled. Yet our education system has been failing our children for years. And similar to our criminal justice system, we cannot repair the damage done until we have full transparency and complete accountability. Until we achieve that benchmark, voiding this exam does more than hurt our children — it gives us a false sense of security within a failing model. That is why I am calling on BESE to do the right thing and get back to the basics. Otherwise, they do more than fail our children, they fail our entire State — and that’s a trophy no one wants to win. 

Jeff Landry
Louisiana Attorney General

Landry Launches Second TV Ad: In Their Shoes

LAFAYETTE, La. — Today, Jeff Landry released his second televised advertisement in his campaign for Governor of Louisiana.  This is a seven-figure ad buy that will be broadcast statewide on tv, digital, and social media.  The ad highlights Landry’s small town background and the Louisiana values of hard work, family, and faith that were instilled in him at an early age. 

“My mother was a school teacher, my dad a small-town architect. Times were tough, but we had faith, and we had each other. 

Digging ditches in a sugarcane field, serving our country, working nights as an officer, raising a family—I have walked in the very shoes of the people who struggle way more than they should in a state as blessed as this one. 

We can have a state government that fixes problems and delivers solutions.”

Troy Hebert on Jeff Landry

Former political rivals, now allies, Jeff Landry and Troy Hebert have had a colorful past. On Friday’s program, Jim Engster discussed the Governor’s race with former Sen. Hebert and got his thoughts on Jeff Landry’s run for the seat. Below is a short segment from that program in which Hebert discusses their past, the merits of Landry’s campaign and announces his support for his candidacy.

LANDRY: American People 1, Ministry of Truth 0

Latest Ruling on Louisiana and Missouri vs. Biden et al.

Despite the breathtaking arrogance of the Biden Administration and his cadre of federal bureaucrats, the Louisiana Department of Justice has won an historic injunction against them: effectively stopping federal agencies and White House officials from colluding with social media companies to censor your protected speech. As of today, the Ministry of Truth is officially on notice. 

The evidence of illegal censorship in this case is both shocking and overwhelming. In fact, as Judge Terry Doughty stated in his ruling, “if the allegations made by Plaintiffs are true, the present case arguably involves the most massive attack against free speech in United States’ history.” 

Our evidence shows systematic political bias across this federal “Censorship Enterprise,” which overwhelmingly targeted conservative political speech, especially speech criticizing the Biden Administration and its policies. For example, senior federal officials ultimately decided what Americans could and could not say on platforms including Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and others regarding COVID-19, elections, government officials, and more. Such actions made these federal officials self-appointed arbiters of truth for all Americans under the guise of fighting “misinformation” and “disinformation.”

This was done, as claimed by senior national-security official Jen Easterly, the director of CISA, to protect America’s “cognitive infrastructure,” because it was “dangerous” to let Americans “pick their own facts.” In order to control this process, officials from the White House on down pressured, threatened, and berated social media platforms to stifle the speech of their political opponents, as well as everyday Americans on issues related to the efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine injuries, the now-widely accepted lab leak theory, and even the Hunter Biden laptop story. 

Our evidence also demonstrates that the FBI pressured social media platforms to perpetrate “account takedowns” of hundreds of American social media users on a monthly basis, as well as collaborated with CISA in acts of trickery and deception to further induce censorship by social media companies. The U.S. State Department also collaborated with CISA and private research groups to establish a mass-surveillance and mass-censorship program across all major social media platforms — but that stops now. 

Today’s historic ruling by the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Louisiana is meant to stop this unconstitutional censorship in its tracks. As Judge Doughty observed, “the question does not concern whether speech is conservative, moderate, liberal, progressive, or somewhere in-between. What matters is that Americans, despite their views, will not be censored or suppressed by the Government.” That is why we look forward to litigating this very important case to conclusion on behalf of all Louisianans and Americans injured by this shocking abuse of federal power.

Jeff Landry
Louisiana Attorney General

AG Landry Visits with Maria Bartiromo on Crime Problem in Louisiana