Now that Senator John Kennedy has told supporters he will not run for governor this year, the next shoe to drop appears to be Lt. Governor Billy Nungesser. The 63-year-old Republican was a guest on Talk Louisiana with Jim Engster Thursday and says tourism officials are encouraging him to run for re-election.
“It is a great job, I love what I do, so it is a tough decision, I’m praying about it, talking with family and my supporters and I got a tough decision to make,” said Nungesser.
Nungesser says he’ll make his announcement on WWL Radio in New Orleans on January 10th.
Attorney General Jeff Landry is the only major candidate to announce his candidacy for governor. Nungesser and Landry are not on friendly terms and on WRKF Nungesser said Landry is not electable because of his nasty political style.
“You need to put the best Republican forward that has a chance at being governor, and I think there’s a lot other good people that are either running or going to run that would be a better choice for the greater good of Louisiana,” said Nungesser.
Several Republicans are considering a run at governor, including State Treasurer John Schroder, Congressman Garret Graves, state lawmakers Richard Nelson and Sharon Hewitt and there will be Democrats who will get in the race too. Nungesser is a moderate and is concerned if too many Republicans run, it will hurt his chances at making the run-off.
“If you got three, four, five or even six Republicans that are going after that vote, you are going to get the extreme on both sides in the runoff,” said Nungesser.
Nungesser says if he can get in the run-off he likes his chances at becoming Louisiana’s next governor.
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