Governor's mansion in Baton Rouge
Qualifying for the statewide races got underway this morning at the Secretary of State’s Office in Baton Rouge. The first candidate for governor to sign up was Independent Hunter Lundy, an attorney from Lake Charles. Lundy says in order to improve Louisiana, more funding needs to go towards early childhood education.
“The education, crime and poverty are all linked, attacking education at the very earliest age, three and four years of age, and we can change that.” said Lundy.
Lundy says to pay for more early childhood education, he would like to keep the state sales tax rate at 4.45 percent. It’s set to go down to four-percent in July of 2025. Lundy would also like to raise the state’s minimum wage.
“You got moms having to work two and three jobs, they need help with child care, and they need to be able to know that second job they can make minimum wage, that’s much higher than $7.25 an hour,” said Lundy.
John Schroder is one of five main Republican candidates expected to qualify between now and Thursday afternoon. Schroder has served as the State Treasurer since 2017 and before that he served in the Louisiana House for over ten years. The Covington resident wants to make fundamental changes to state government.
“My job as an elected official is to help those who can’t really help themselves, who need the most assistance from government, but I’m tired of seeing and hearing and talking to people where a select few get the benefits,” said Schroder.
Schroder on the polls that show he’s trailing front-runner Jeff Landry by a wide margin.
“I can tell you that nobody is going to outwork me, nobody has outworked us and we are touching all corners of this state and we’ll continue to do that,” said Schroder.
Former state transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson also qualified. He’s the lone major Democrat in the race. Wilson joins Lundy in keeping what is currently a temporary 0.45-percent state sales tax.
“I stand before as the only candidate with over 25 years of consistent and competent service to the state of Louisiana and over that time I’ve been a bridge builder of many sorts,” said Wilson.
Wilson joins Lundy in keeping what is currently a temporary 0.45-percent state sales tax.
“And it needs to stay not to build government, but to address our priorities, things like early childhood education, investing in public safety, and help local law enforcement agencies address the crime issues,” said Wilson.
Republicans Jeff Landry and Sharon Hewitt are expected to qualify on Wednesday. Fellow Republicans Stephen Waguespack and Richard Nelson plan on qualifying on Thursday.
Hunter Lundy
John Schroder
Shawn Wilson
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