Jeff Landry

Jeffrey Martin Landry (born December 23, 1970) is an American lawyer and politician serving as the Attorney General of Louisiana. He defeated Republican incumbent Buddy Caldwell in a runoff election held on November 21, 2015, and took office on January 11, 2016. Landry is a former U.S. Representative for and a member of the Republican Party.

Background

Landry is a Roman Catholic. His mother is a religion school teacher at Trinity Catholic School in St. Martinville in St. Martin Parish. His father is an architect and businessman. He has a brother, Nick, who is openly gay and has criticized his politics.

Landry received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in environmental and sustainable resources, with a minor in biology. He earned a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University New Orleans College of Law.

He served at Fort Hood near Killeen, Texas, during Operation Desert Storm. After eleven years in the Louisiana National Guard, he was discharged at the rank of sergeant.

Pre-political career

Landry is a former St. Martin Parish sheriff's deputy and a former police officer in Parks, Louisiana. During his time as a St. Martin Parish deputy, Landry shared a rental home in St. Martinville with a friend and fellow deputy, a man who smuggled at least $10,000 worth of cocaine and stashed it underneath their home. Once his colleagues caught onto the crime, the police executed a search warrant, which Landry signed. The home was searched, and his roommate lost his job and subsequently went to prison. Landry turned in his own badge but remained on as a reserve deputy until 2004.

Until his election as attorney general, he was an attorney and small businessman based in New Iberia.

2007 state senate election

In the 2007 general election, he ran for Louisiana's 22nd Senate District when incumbent Republican State Senator Craig Romero was term-limited. In the general election, he faced Democrat Troy Hebert of Jeanerette in Iberia Parish. Hebert later declared himself an Independent. Hebert defeated Landry by 51% to 49%. At the time the district had a 3 to 1 Democratic majority.

U.S. House of Representatives

Elections

;2010

A lifelong Republican, Landry entered the race to represent Louisiana's 3rd Congressional District after Democratic incumbent Charlie Melancon relinquished the seat to make an unsuccessful run for the Senate against David Vitter. Landry won his party's nomination in a runoff election held on October 2, 2010, defeating former Speaker of the Louisiana House of Representatives Hunt Downer of Houma, Louisiana, 19,657 votes to 10,549 votes (65–35 percent).

Landry participated in 2010 in Louisiana Tea Party movement rallies and won that organization's endorsement. The 3rd District voted 61–37 for U.S. Senator John McCain of Arizona in the 2008 presidential election. The Tea Party ran a "Down with Downer" campaign and referred to him as a Democrat (Downer had been a Democrat until 2001).

Landry nearly won the GOP nomination outright in the August 28 closed primary, but he fell 0.9% short of the 50 percent plus one-vote threshold required for nomination in Louisiana. Therefore, he and Downer entered the runoff contest. In the runoff, Landry won 79% in his own Iberia Parish, while Downer was held to 61% in Terrebonne Parish. Landry polled more than 70% in the runoff in St. Mary, St. Martin, St. John the Baptist, St. Charles, and St. James parishes.

Landry soundly defeated his Democratic opponent, Ravi Kishan Sangisetty, an attorney from Houma, 108,957 votes (64%) to 61,909 (36%). He won all but two smaller parishes in the district, St. James and St. John the Baptist. He won Sangisetty's own Terrebonne Parish. He became the second freshman Republican to represent the 3rd District since Reconstruction. Landry said that Sangisetty's "choice of party affiliation and alliance with his Speaker Nancy Pelosi proves he supports the Washington Democrats' liberal agenda of increased taxes, government takeovers of private industry and dramatically liberal values."

;2012

Louisiana lost a congressional district due to out-migration during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Landry's district was dismantled, and its territory split among three neighboring districts. Landry was drawn into the same district as fellow Republican Charles Boustany of the neighboring 7th District. The new district retained Landry's district number—the 3rd—but geographically and demographically was more Boustany's district; Landry only retained the western third of his old district.

Landry was endorsed by Citizens United. Landry led Boustany in third-quarter 2011 fundraising, $251,000 to $218,000. According to Federal Election Commission, Boustany led in cash-on-hand lead, $1.1 million–$402,000. Landry carried the endorsement of Phyllis Schlafly's Eagle Forum political action committee.

In the November 6 election, Landry trailed Boustany by 45,596 votes. Boustany led the five-candidate field with 139,123 votes (44.7 percent); Landry received 93,527 votes (30 percent). The Democrat Ron Richard procured 67,070 votes (21.5 percent), 7,908 votes (2.5 percent) and 3,765 votes (1.2 percent) were cast, respectively, for Republican Bryan Barrilleaux and the Libertarian Jim Stark. Because none of the five candidates received a majority, Boustany and Landry went into a runoff contest held on December 8.

With 58,820 votes (60.9 percent), Boustany defeated Landry, who polled 37,764 ballots (39.1 percent). Landry prevailed in only three of the ten parishes in the revised district, all of which he then represented, including his home parish of St. Martin, his residence of Iberia, and St. Mary Parish.

Tenure

During his tenure in Congress, Landry was known as an advocate for the Oil and Natural Gas industry. He has heavily criticized President Obama saying, "Republicans continue to criticize the president for being anti-oil. He says that's not true, but his actions don’t match his rhetoric."

Landry made national headlines by holding up a sign saying "Drilling=jobs" during Obama's national jobs plan speech in September 2011. Regarding the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Landry opposed the liability cap on BP while supporting the Gulf Hurricane Protection Project.

On June 4, 2012, Landry, in a radio program produced by the American Center for Law and Justice, said that the Obama administration was "granting special status or waivers to Muslims as they go through TSA screenings." The Transportation Security Administration does not grant any religious exemptions to Muslims.

In July 2012, Landry made local headlines when he declared his opposition to the establishment of a minor field in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. He wrote to the university's president, Dr. Joe Savoie, saying, "As our nation continues to struggle with high unemployment, higher education's primary mission should be ensuring current and future students have the tools necessary to compete in the 21st century economy." Landry also criticized the new minor as an unnecessary use of taxpayer funding. Savoie refused to drop the course.

In a blog post, Savoie said that the program "did not require budgetary allocations or divert resources from other areas" Savoie also explained, "Our desired posture is to be neither advocate nor adversary on controversial social issues of the day. Rather, our responsibility is to provide in an impartial manner an opportunity for investigation, analysis, and understanding."

Departure

As he departed Washington, D.C., Landry did not rule out a future role in politics.

Attorney General of Louisiana

Election

On February 24, 2014, Landry announced his challenge to Caldwell, who was first elected in 2007 as a Democrat. On July 28, 2015, the Louisiana Republican Party under chairman Roger F. Villere Jr. formally endorsed Landry. Caldwell said that he would have "welcomed the endorsement, but we weren't counting on it. The state party has never endorsed me before..." Caldwell questioned Landry's qualifications for the position: "It's unnerving to me that the statewide Republican Party would even think about endorsing someone who has never tried a civil or criminal case in court. I'm not sure really what his qualifications are."

On July 27 and 29, 2015, Landry hosted the statewide radio talk show ''The Moon Griffon Show'', while host Moon Griffon was vacationing.

Landry finished second with 347,441 votes (32.7 percent) in the primary held on October 24, 2015. Leading the four-candidate field was the two-term incumbent Republican Buddy Caldwell, with 376,187 votes (35.4 percent). Democrat Geraldine "Geri" Broussard Baloney finished third with 187,332 votes (17.6 percent). Another Democrat, Isaac "Ike" Jackson of Plaquemine in Iberville Parish, finished fourth with 115,037 votes (10.8 percent); a second Republican, Marty Maley came in last with 37,787 votes (3.6 percent). Landry amassed a strong showing principally in southwestern Louisiana, including his own St. Martin and Iberia parishes as well as Assumption, Lafayette, St. Mary, and Calcasieu. Caldwell carried most parishes in the primary.

In the second round of balloting, held on November 21, 2015, Landry prevailed 610,435 (56.3 percent) to Caldwell's 473,876 (43.7 percent).

The Democratic Party choice in the race, Geri Broussard Baloney, an African-American lawyer from Garyville, endorsed Landry in the runoff contest. After he assumed office, Landry named Baloney's daughter, Quendi Baloney, to a position in his administration. ''The Baton Rouge Advocate'' questioned whether the appointment was made on merit or political consideration. Landry defended his choice by citing the education and experience of Ms. Baloney, a graduate of George Washington University and Loyola University New Orleans College of Law who was formerly employed by the United States Department of Justice. She investigated housing discrimination by Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers. Baloney and her colleagues secured a $2.7 million settlement from Sterling.

Tenure

Abortion

Landry opposes access to abortion, and argued in favor of Louisiana's abortion ban. He recommended that anyone who disagrees with the policy, without exception for rape or incest or age, should move to another state.

In August 2022, at his guidance, he twice urged the Louisiana State Bond Commission to delay funding for a power station that charges drainage pumps in New Orleans