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Republican Jeff Landry Wins Louisiana Governor’s Race, Reclaims Office for GOP

Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, has won the Louisiana governor’s race, holding off a crowded field of candidates.

The win is a major victory for the GOP as they reclaim the governor’s mansion for the first time in eight years. Landry will replace current Gov. John Bel Edwards, who was unable to seek reelection due to consecutive term limits. Edwards is the only Democratic governor in the Deep South.

“Today’s election says that our state is united,” Landry said during his victory speech Saturday night. “It’s a wake up call and it’s a message that everyone should hear loud and clear, that we the people in this state are going to expect more out of our government from here on out.”

By garnering more than half of the votes, Landry avoided an expected runoff under the state’s “jungle primary” system. The last time there wasn’t a gubernatorial runoff in Louisiana was in 2011 and 2007, when Bobby Jindal, a Republican, won the state’s top position.

The governor-elect, who celebrated with supporters during a watch party in Broussard, Louisiana, described the election as “historic.” 

Landry, 52, has raised the profile of attorney general since taking office in 2016. He has used his office to champion conservative policy positions. More recently, Landry has been in the spotlight over his involvement and staunch support of Louisiana laws that have drawn much debate, including banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender youths, the state’s near-total abortion ban that doesn’t have exceptions for cases of rape and incest, and a law restricting youths’ access to “sexually explicit material” in libraries, which opponents fear will target LGBTQ+ books.

Landry has repeatedly clashed with Edwards over matters in the state, including LGBTQ rights, state finances and the death penalty. However the Republican has also repeatedly put Louisiana in national fights, including over President Joe Biden’s policies that limit oil and gas production and COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

Landry spent two years on Capitol Hill, beginning in 2011, where he represented Louisiana’s 3rd U.S. Congressional District. Prior to his political career, Landry served 11 years in the Louisiana Army National Guard, was a local police officer, sheriff’s deputy and attorney.

During the gubernatorial election season, Landry had long been considered the early frontrunner, winning the endorsement of high profile Republicans — Trump and U.S. Rep Steve Scalise — and a controversial early endorsement from the state GOP. In addition, Landry has enjoyed a sizable fundraising advantage over the rest of the field throughout the race.

Landry has made clear that one of his top priorities as governor would be addressing crime in urban areas. The Republican has pushed a tough-on-crime rhetoric, calling for more “transparency” in the justice system and continuing to support capital punishment. Louisiana has the nation’s second-highest murder rate per capita.

Along the campaign trail, Landry faced political attacks from opponents on social media and in interviews, calling him a bully and making accusations of backroom deals to gain support. He also faced scrutiny for skipping all but one of the major-televised debates. 

Among other gubernatorial candidates on the ballot were GOP state Sen. Sharon Hewitt; Hunter Lundy, a Lake Charles-based attorney running as an independent; Republican state Treasurer John Schroder; Stephen Waguespack, the Republican former head of a powerful business group and former senior aide to then-Gov. Jindal; and Shawn Wilson, the former head of Louisiana’s Transportation and Development Department and sole major Democratic candidate.

Wilson, who was the runner-up, said during his concession speech that he had called Landry to congratulate him on his victory. The Democrat said during their phone call, he asked the governor-elect to keep Medicaid expansion, increase teacher pay and “educate our children the way they need to be educated.”

“The citizens of Louisiana spoke, or didn’t speak, and made a decision,” Wilson said.

Also on Saturday’s ballot were five other statewide contests and four ballot measures.

Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser won reelection Saturday night, but other races won’t be decided until November.

One closely watched race is for attorney general, which holds the highest legal authority in the state’s executive branch. Liz Baker Murrill, a Republican who currently works at the Attorney General’s Office and Lindsey Cheek, a Democrat and trial attorney, have advanced to a November runoff.

Also advancing to a runoff in the state treasurer race is John Fleming, Republican, and Dustin Granger, Democrat.

In the secretary of state race, First Assistant Secretary of State Nancy Landry, a Republican, and Gwen Collins-Greenup, a Democrat and attorney, will advance to a runoff. The winner in November will have the task of replacing Louisiana’s outdated voting machines, which do not produce the paper ballots critical to ensuring accurate election results.

There are hundreds of additional localized races, including all 39 Senate seats and 105 House seats, however a significant number of incumbents are running unopposed. 
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Black Queer Leaders Rise to Prominence in US Congress, Activism

On the 60th anniversary of the March on Washington this summer, a few Black queer advocates spoke passionately before the main program about the ongoing struggle for LGBTQ+ rights. As some of them got up to speak, the crowd was still noticeably small.

Hope Giselle, a speaker who is Black and trans, said she felt the event’s programming echoed the historical marginalization and erasure of Black queer activists in the Civil Rights Movement. However, she was buoyed by the fact that prominent speakers drew attention to recent efforts to turn back the clock on LGBTQ+ rights, like the attacks on gender-affirming care for minors.

And despite valid concerns around the visibility of Black queer advocates in activist movements, progress is being made in elected office. This month, Sen. Laphonza Butler made history as the first Black and openly lesbian senator in Congress, when California Governor Gavin Newsom appointed her to fill the seat held by the late Dianne Feinstein.

Rectifying the erasure of Black queer civil rights giants requires a full-throated acknowledgment of their legacies, and an increase of Black LGBTQ+ representation in advocacy and politics, several activists and lawmakers told The Associated Press.

“One of the things that I need for people to understand is that the Black queer community is still Black,” and face anti-Black racism as well as homophobia and transphobia, said Giselle, communications director for the GSA Network, a nonprofit that helps students form gay-straight alliance clubs in schools.

“On top of being Black and queer, we have to also then distinguish what it means to be queer in a world that thinks that queerness is adjacent to whiteness — and that queerness saves you from racism. It does not,” she said.

In an interview with the AP, Butler said she hopes that her appointment points toward progress in the larger cause of representation.

“It’s too early to tell. But what I know is that history will be recorded in our National Archives, the representation that I bring to the United States Senate,” she said last week. “I am not shy or bashful about who I am and who my family is. So, my hope is that I have lived out loud enough to overcome the tactics of today.”

“But we don’t know yet what the tactics of erasure are for tomorrow,” Butler said.

Butler is a bellwether of increased visibility of queer communities in politics in recent years. In fact Black LGBTQ+ political representation has grown by 186% since 2019, according to a 2023 report by the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute. That included the election of former Rep. Mondaire Jones and Rep. Ritchie Torres, both of New York, who were the first openly gay Black and Afro-Latino congressmen after the 2020 election, as well as former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.

These leaders stand on the shoulders of civil rights heroes such as Bayard Rustin, Pauli Murray, and Audre Lorde. In accounts of their contributions to the Civil Rights and feminist movements, their Blackness is typically amplified while their queer identities are often minimized or even erased, said David Johns, executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, a LGBTQ+ civil rights group.

Rustin, who was an adviser to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and a pivotal architect of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, is a glaring example. The march he helped lead tilled the ground for the passage of federal civil rights and voting rights legislation in the next few years.

But the fact that he was gay is often reduced to a footnote rather than treated as a key part of his involvement, Johns said.

“We need to teach our public school students history, herstory, our beautifully diverse ways of being, without censorship,” he said.

An upcoming biopic of Rustin’s life will undoubtedly help thrust the topic of Black LGBTQ+ political representation into the public conversation, said Shay Franco-Clausen, a city planning commissioner in Hayward, California.

“I didn’t even learn about those same leaders, Black leaders, Black queer leaders until I got to college,” she said.

The film, titled Rustin, debuts in select theaters Nov. 3 and on Netflix on Nov. 17.

Some believe the erasure of Black LGBTQ+ leaders stems from respectability politics, a strategy in some marginalized communities of ostracizing or punishing members who don’t assimilate into the dominant culture.

White supremacist ideology in Christianity, which has been used more broadly to justify racism and systemic oppression, has also promoted the erasure of Black queer history. The Black Christian church was integral to the success of the Civil Rights Movement, but it is also “theologically hostile” to LGBTQ+ communities, said Don Abram, executive director of Pride in the Pews.

“I think it’s the co-optation of religious practices by white supremacists to actually subjugate Black, queer, and trans folk,” Abram said. “They are largely using moralistic language, theological language, religious language to justify them oppressing queer and trans folk.”

Not all queer advocacy communities have been welcoming to Black LGBTQ+ voices. Minneapolis City Council President Andrea Jenkins said she is just as intentional in amplifying queer visibility in Black spaces as she is amplifying Blackness in majority white, queer spaces.

“We need to have more Black, queer, transgender, nonconforming identified people in these political spaces to aid and bridge those gaps,” Jenkins said. “It’s important to be able to create the kinds of awareness on both sides of the issue that can bring people together and that can ensure that we do have full participation from our community.”

Black LGBTQ+ leaders are also using their platforms to create awareness about groundbreaking historical figures, especially Rustin. Maryland Delegate Gabriel Acevero and several LGBTQ+ advocates fought to get the only elementary school in his district named after Rustin in 2018. He has also urged Congress to pass legislation to create a U.S. Postal Service stamp depicting Rustin.

“Black queer folks have contributed to so many movements that we do not get acknowledgment for,” Acevero said. “And this is why we should not only ensure that our elders get their flowers, but we should push to have their names and statues built … so that they are not forgotten.”
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Republicans Pick Jim Jordan as Nominee for House Speaker

Republicans chose Representative Jim Jordan as their new nominee for House speaker on Friday during internal voting, putting the gavel within reach of the staunch ally of Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump. 

Jordan will now try to unite colleagues from the deeply divided House GOP majority around his bid ahead of a floor vote, which could push to next week. 

Frustrated House Republicans have been fighting bitterly over whom they should elect to replace the speaker they ousted, Representative Kevin McCarthy, and the future direction of their party. The stalemate, now in its second week, has thrown the House into chaos, grinding all other business to a halt. 

Attention swiftly turned to Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman and founder of the hard-line Freedom Caucus, as the next potential candidate after Majority Leader Steve Scalise abruptly ended his bid when it became clear holdouts would refuse to back him. 

But not all Republicans want to see Jordan as speaker, second in line to the presidency. Overwhelmed and exhausted, anxious GOP lawmakers worry their House majority is being frittered away to countless rounds of infighting, and some don’t want to reward Jordan’s wing, which sparked the turmoil. 

“If we’re going to be the majority party, we have to act like the majority party,” said Representative Austin Scott, who posed a last-ditch challenge to Jordan. 

While the firebrand Jordan has a long list of detractors who started making their opposition known, Jordan’s supporters said voting against the Trump ally during a public vote on the House floor would be tougher because he is so popular and well known among more conservative Republican voters. 

Heading into a morning meeting, Jordan said, “I feel real good.” 

Other potential speaker choices were also being floated. Some Republicans proposed simply giving Representative Patrick McHenry, who was appointed interim speaker pro tempore, greater authority to lead the House for some time. 

The House, without a speaker, is essentially unable to function during a time of turmoil in the United States and wars overseas. The political pressure increasingly is on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control, and govern in Congress. 

With the House narrowly split 221-212, with two vacancies, any nominee can lose just a few Republicans before they fail to reach the 217 majority needed in the face of opposition from Democrats, who will most certainly back their own leader, New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries. 

Absences heading into the weekend could lower the majority threshold needed, and Republicans said they were down about a dozen lawmakers as of midday Friday. No floor votes were scheduled as attendance thinned before the weekend. 

In announcing his decision to withdraw from the nomination, Scalise said late Thursday the Republican majority still has to come together and “open up the House again. But clearly not everybody is there.” 

Jordan received an important nod Friday from the Republican party’s campaign chairman, Representative Richard Hudson, who made an attempt to unify the fighting factions. 

“Removing Speaker Kevin McCarthy was a mistake,” Hudson wrote on social media, saying the party found itself at a crossroads also blocking Scalise. “We must unite around one leader.” 

Earlier in the week, Jordan had nominally dropped out of the race he initially lost to Scalise, 113-99, during internal balloting. 

Scalise had been laboring to peel off more than 100 votes, mostly from those who backed Jordan. But many hard-liners taking their cues from Trump have dug in for a prolonged fight to replace McCarthy after his historic ouster from the job. 

The situation is not fully different from the start of the year, when McCarthy faced a similar backlash from a different group of far-right holdouts who ultimately gave their votes to elect him speaker, then engineered his historic downfall. 

But the math this time is even more daunting, and the problematic political dynamic is only worsening. 

Exasperated Democrats, who have been waiting for the Republican majority to recover from McCarthy’s ouster, urged them to figure it out. 

“The House Democrats have continued to make clear that we are ready, willing and able to find a bipartisan path forward,” Jeffries said, including doing away with the rule that allows a single lawmaker to force a vote against the speaker. “But we need traditional Republicans to break from the extremists and partner with us.”
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US House Deadlocked Over Speaker Vote

Republicans nominated conservative Representative Jim Jordan by a vote of 124-81 Friday in a chaotic third day of attempting to elect a speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives. As VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson reports, Jordan needs substantially more support to win a full floor vote next week to become the person who will be second in the presidential line of succession.
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US House Deadlocked Over Leadership Debate

Republican Representative Steve Scalise dropped his bid to become speaker of the US House of Representatives late Thursday, after failing to secure enough votes to win election. VOA’s Congressional Correspondent Katherine Gypson has more on how the US Congress is unable to act on Ukraine and Israel until a new leader is chosen.
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Scalise Ends Bid to Become House Speaker After Failing to Secure Enough Votes

U.S. Representative Steve Scalise has ended his bid to become House speaker after failing to secure enough votes to win the gavel. 

Scalise told Republican colleagues of his decision during a closed-door meeting late Thursday.

The next steps are uncertain as the House is essentially closed while Republicans try to elect a speaker after ousting Kevin McCarthy from the job. 

“I just shared with my colleagues that I’m withdrawing my name as a candidate for speaker-designee,” Scalise said as he emerged from the closed-door meeting at the Capitol. 

Scalise said the Republican majority “still has to come together and is not there.” 

He had been working furiously to secure the votes after being nominated by a majority of his colleagues, but after hours of private meetings over two days and late into the evening at the Capitol,it was clear lawmakers were not budging from their refusal to support him. 

“There are still some people that have their own agendas,” Scalise said. “And I was very clear, we have to have everybody put their agendas on the side and focus on what this country needs.” 

Frustrations mounted as the crisis deepened and Republicans lost another day without a House speaker. Scalise was trying to peel off more than 100 votes, mostly from those who backed his chief rival, Representative Jim Jordan, the Judiciary Committee chairman favored by hard-liners, who announced he was no longer in the running and tossed his vote to Scalise. 

But many hard-liners taking their cues from Donald Trump have dug in for a prolonged fight to replace McCarthy after his historic ouster from the job. They argue that Majority Leader Scalise is no better choice, that he should be focusing on his health as he battles cancer and that he is not the leader they will support. No House votes were scheduled. 

“We’re going to get this done,” Scalise had said after an earlier closed-door meeting at the Capitol. 

Scalise said he took every question thrown his way and pledged during the two-hour session to work through the issues raised. But there is no easy endgame in sight. 

“Time is of the essence,” McCarthy said Thursday when he arrived at the Capitol. 

Asked if it was still possible for Scalise to find enough support, McCarthy said, “It’s possible — it’s a big hill, though.” 

The House is entering its second week without a speaker and is essentially unable to function, and the political pressure increasingly is on Republicans to reverse course, reassert majority control and govern in Congress. 

Action is needed to fund the government or face the threat of a federal shutdown in a month. Lawmakers also want Congress to deliver a strong statement of support for Israel in the war with Hamas, but a bipartisan resolution has been sidelined by the stalemate in the House. The White House is expected to soon ask for money for Israel, Ukraine and the backfill of the U.S. weapons stockpile. 

The situation is not fully different from the start of the year, when McCarthy faced a similar backlash from a different group of far-right holdouts who ultimately gave their votes to elect him speaker, then engineered his historic downfall. 

But the math this time is even more daunting. Scalise, who is seen by some colleagues as a hero for surviving a 2017 shooting on lawmakers at a congressional baseball game practice, won the closed-door Republican vote 113-99. But McCarthy noted that Scalise, a longtime rival, had indicated he would have 150 votes behind closed doors but missed that mark. 

Scalise would have needed 217 votes to reach a majority that likely would be needed in a floor battle with Democrats. The chamber is narrowly split 221-212, with two vacancies, meaning Scalise could lose just a few Republicans in the face of opposition from Democrats who will most certainly back their own leader, New York Representative Hakeem Jeffries. Absences heading into the weekend could lower the majority threshold needed. 

Exasperated Democrats, who have been watching and waiting for the Republican majority to recover from McCarthy’s ouster, urged them to figure it out, warning the world is watching. 

“The House Republicans need to end the GOP Civil War, now,” Jeffries said, using the abbreviation for the Republican party’s nickname, Grand Old Party.

“The House Democrats have continued to make clear that we are ready, willing and able to find a bipartisan path forward,” he said, urging that the House reopen and change Republican-led rules that allowed a single lawmaker to put in motion the process to remove the speaker. 

As Congress sat idle, the Republicans spent a second day behind closed doors, arguing and airing grievances but failing to follow their own party rules and unite behind the nominee. 

Representative Dan Crenshaw said the meetings had been marked by “emotional” objections to voting for Scalise. 

“It’s not for your personal grievances, but that’s unfortunately what I keep seeing,” he said. 

Some Republicans simply took their Chick-fil-A lunches to go. 

Jordan, a founding member of the House Freedom Caucus who was backed by Trump in the speaker’s race, announced he did not plan to continue running for the leadership position. 

“We need to come together and support Steve,” Jordan told reporters before the closed session. 

It was the most vocal endorsement yet from Jordan, who had earlier offered to give his rival a nominating speech on the floor, and privately was telling lawmakers he would vote for Scalise and was encouraging his colleagues to do the same. 

But it was not enough to sway the holdouts. 
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Biden Campaign Courting Black, Hispanic Voters Amid Drop in Polls

Recent polls show softening support for U.S. President Joe Biden and his 2024 reelection bid among Black and Hispanic voters. While analysts stress that the shifts aren’t extreme, in a close election they could be pivotal. The Biden campaign told VOA it’s not taking any votes for granted. Veronica Balderas Iglesias has the story.
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