Current:Home > InvestLouisiana gubernatorial candidates set to debate crime, economy and other issues 5 weeks from vote-DB Wealth Institute B2 Expert Reviews
Louisiana gubernatorial candidates set to debate crime, economy and other issues 5 weeks from vote
View Date:2024-12-23 21:44:24
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Five candidates vying to become Louisiana’s next governor are set to take the stage Thursday evening for the first major televised gubernatorial debate this election season, an opportunity to make their case to voters on pressing issues such as crime, economy, the justice system, education and an insurance crisis.
Just five weeks from Election Day, the debate will take place without the race’s early front-runner. State Attorney General Jeff Landry, a Republican backed by former President Donald Trump, is skipping the event after raising questions about one of the sponsors.
With no incumbent on the ballot this year, Louisiana’s gubernatorial election has attracted seven major candidates. John Bel Edwards, the only Democratic governor currently in office in a Deep South state, is unable to seek reelection due to term limits, meaning Republicans have a huge opportunity to seize control of the state’s executive branch.
The debate participants are GOP state Sen. Sharon Hewitt; Hunter Lundy, a Lake Charles-based attorney running as an independent; state Treasurer John Schroder, a Republican; Stephen Waguespack, the Republican former head of a powerful business group and former senior aide to then-Gov. Bobby Jindal; and Shawn Wilson, the former head of Louisiana’s Transportation and Development Department and the only major Democratic candidate.
Only the top five polling candidates were invited to take part. After Landry decided not to attend, Hewitt was invited. State Rep. Richard Nelson, also a Republican, missed the cut.
Over the past month, most of the candidates have jabbed at Landry on social media, in ads and in media interviews, calling him “a bully,” accusing him of backroom deals to gain support and associating him with a political culture of cronyism and corruption.
But they won’t get to confront him in person at the debate Thursday after he opted out, saying the sponsorship by the Urban League of Louisiana “raises questions about impartiality.” The state Republican Party also has taken that stance and urged all GOP candidates to boycott the event.
The Urban League is a nonpartisan civil rights organization that advocates on behalf of Black Louisianans and other underserved communities. Debate organizers say the group did not craft, and will not be posing, questions for the event.
Landry has missed several other prominent forums with candidates, The Advocate reported. He has committed to a Sept. 15 debate in Lafayette sponsored by Nexstar Media Group, however.
Under the state’s “jungle primary” system, candidates of all party affiliations are on the same Oct. 14 ballot. If nobody tops 50%, the two leading vote-getters advance to a general election Nov. 18.
Thursday’s debate will air live at 7 p.m. from WWL-TV Channel 4’s studio in New Orleans. It will also be streamed on the station’s social media platforms.
veryGood! (61188)
Related
- Rita Ora Says Liam Payne “Left Such a Mark on This World” in Emotional Tribute
- Margot Robbie Just Put a Red-Hot Twist on Her Barbie Style
- California Activists Redouble Efforts to Hold the Oil Industry Accountable on Neighborhood Drilling
- Why Saving the Whales Means Saving Ourselves
- Inflation ticked up in October, CPI report shows. What happens next with interest rates?
- U.K. leader Rishi Sunak's Conservatives suffer more election losses
- Matthew Lawrence Teases His Happily Ever After With TLC's Chilli
- Environmental Auditors Approve Green Labels for Products Linked to Deforestation and Authoritarian Regimes
- Tony Todd, star of 'Candyman,' 'Final Destination,' dies at 69
- In California’s Central Valley, the Plan to Build More Solar Faces a Familiar Constraint: The Need for More Power Lines
Ranking
- Roster limits in college small sports put athletes on chopping block while coaches look for answers
- New Mexico State Soccer Player Thalia Chaverria Found Dead at 20
- Tearful Damar Hamlin Honors Buffalo Bills Trainers Who Saved His Life at ESPYS 2023
- Selena Gomez's Sister Proves She's Taylor Swift's Biggest Fan With Speak Now-Inspired Hair Transformation
- Bridgerton's Luke Newton Details His Physical Transformation for Season 3's Leading Role
- Video shows bear stuck inside car in Lake Tahoe
- These 28 Top-Rated Self-Care Products With Thousands of 5-Star Reviews Are Discounted for Prime Day
- Cocaine sharks may be exposed to drugs in the Florida Keys, researchers say
Recommendation
-
A wayward sea turtle wound up in the Netherlands. A rescue brought it thousands of miles back home
-
Fossil Fuel Executives See a ‘Golden Age’ for Gas, If They Can Brand It as ‘Clean’
-
U.K. leader Rishi Sunak's Conservatives suffer more election losses
-
John Akomfrah’s ‘Purple’ Is Climate Change Art That Asks Audiences to Feel
-
Mean Girls’ Lacey Chabert Details “Full Circle” Reunion With Lindsay Lohan and Amanda Seyfried
-
Rural Communities Like East Palestine, Ohio, Are at Outsized Risk of Train Derailments and the Ensuing Fallout
-
U.K. leader Rishi Sunak's Conservatives suffer more election losses
-
One of the World’s Coldest Places Is Now the Warmest it’s Been in 1,000 Years, Scientists Say