Governor's mansion in Baton Rouge
Five of the seven major candidates will participate in the first televised debate for the 2023 governor’s race tonight. Republican Jeff Landry refuses to participate because he said the organizer, the Urban League is biased toward Democrats. UNO Political Science professor Dr. Ed Chervenak said it’s unfortunate because voters are interested in what Landry has to say.
“And I think they’ll also be interested to see how he’d be able to fend off the challenges from the other candidates because they certainly are going to be challenging and criticizing him since he is the frontrunner,” said Chervenak.
Republican Representative Richard Nelson was not invited to participate due to low polling numbers.
With fellow Republicans and Independent Hunter Lundy polling in the single digits, Chervenak said they’ll need to capture viewers’ attention and set themselves apart.
Present or not, Chervenak believes the candidates will go after Landry.
“It will give them a chance to basically distinguish themselves from him and try and reduce the gap that we find in the polls between Jeff Landry and the rest of the Republicans,” said Chervenak.
And even though two of the seven viable candidates will be missing, Chervenak thinks voters will still tune in to get a better idea of what the participating candidates’ plans are for Louisiana.
“We’re going to be electing the next governor I think people want to hear what their issues are, what their priorities are, what their principals are. What they believe they can do to lead the state in a much more positive, forward direction,” said Chervenak.
The debate at, WWL-TV’s studio in New Orlean will be televised statewide tonight at 7 pm. KATC, WBRZ, and KTBS are also sponsoring tonight’s debate.
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