72 Facts About Jeff Landry

Jeffrey Martin Landry is an American politician and attorney who has served as the 57th governor of Louisiana since 2024.

Jeff Landry was a member of the Louisiana National Guard, which he joined while in high school, for 11 years.

Jeff Landry ran for a seat in the Louisiana State Senate in 2007 but narrowly lost.

Jeff Landry was elected to the US Congress in 2010, serving one term until he lost his seat after redistricting.

Jeff Landry won the 2023 Louisiana gubernatorial election with a majority of the vote in the first round.

Jeff Landry signed legislation requiring that the Ten Commandments be displayed in public school classrooms; that bill is currently blocked by the courts on the grounds that it unconstitutionally violates the separation of church and state.

Jeff Landry was born in St Martinville, Louisiana, on December 23,1970, to Al and Edna Jeff Landry.

Jeff Landry's mother was a teacher at Trinity Catholic School in St Martinville.

Jeff Landry graduated from St Martinville High School, where he was a wide receiver on the high school football team.

Jeff Landry spent 11 years in the Louisiana Army National Guard.

Jeff Landry attended the University of Southwestern Louisiana, graduating in 1999 with an environmental science degree.

Jeff Landry then became an attorney and businessman in New Iberia.

In 2007, Jeff Landry ran for Louisiana's 22nd Senate district when incumbent Republican state senator Craig Romero was term-limited.

Jeff Landry entered the race to represent Louisiana's 3rd congressional district after Democratic incumbent Charlie Melancon relinquished the seat to run for US Senate.

Jeff Landry's district was dismantled and its territory split among three neighboring districts.

Jeff Landry was drawn into the same district as fellow Republican Charles Boustany of the neighboring 7th District.

Jeff Landry led Boustany in third-quarter 2011 fundraising, $251,000 to $218,000.

Jeff Landry prevailed in 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.

Jeff Landry says that's not true, but his actions don't match his rhetoric.

Jeff Landry made national headlines by holding up a sign saying "Drilling=jobs" during Obama's national jobs plan speech in September 2011.

In July 2012, Jeff Landry made local headlines when he declared his opposition to the establishment of a minor in LGBT studies at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and wrote a letter to the university's president, Joe Savoie, asking him to drop the minor.

On February 24,2014, Jeff Landry announced his challenge to Caldwell, who was first elected in 2007 as a Democrat.

Jeff Landry defended his choice by citing the education and experience of Ms.

Jeff Landry investigated housing discrimination by Donald Sterling, the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.

Jeff Landry said that people everywhere approached him and urged him to seek the governorship.

Jeff Landry said he might run unless US Senator John N Kennedy decided to enter the race, and called upon interested Republican candidates to announce their intentions.

Jeff Landry had broken with Edwards on numerous political issues, including a 2018 voter referendum on requiring unanimous jury consent for felony convictions, rather than 10 of 12 jurors.

Jeff Landry has said he wants party faithful to rally around conservative orthodoxy, rather than a big tent.

Jeff Landry opposes access to abortion, and argued in favor of Louisiana's abortion ban.

In December 2021, Jeff Landry urged Louisiana State University president William Tate to take disciplinary action against tenured mass communications professor Robert Mann for referring to one of Jeff Landry's staff members, Lauryn Sudduth, as a "flunkie" on Twitter.

Jeff Landry has urged bipartisan cooperation on antitrust enforcement, and endorsed President Joe Biden's nomination of Jonathan Kanter as Assistant Attorney General for the Antitrust Division.

Jeff Landry first replied that he would review the case and could proceed with the appeal to the federal court.

Jeff Landry claimed that Edwards's directive would have established a new "protected class" that does not exist in state law.

Jeff Landry had already successfully blocked dozens of legal services contracts that included the gay-rights language.

Jeff Landry told radio talk show host Moon Griffon that he hoped his legal victory over Edwards would persuade him not to attempt to govern by executive orders to the extent that President Barack Obama did.

In March 2017, Edwards announced that he would appeal the LGBT case Jeff Landry won before Judge Hernandez.

Jeff Landry said that Edwards voted for most of the Jindal administration's budgets yet continued to claim that he is blameless for the state's ongoing budget crisis, which he sought to resolve by raising taxes.

In December 2022, as attorney general, Jeff Landry established a tip line called "Protecting Minors" to address concerns related to librarians, teachers, and other personnel in schools and libraries.

In February 2023, Jeff Landry drafted a report titled "Protecting Innocence" that focuses on libraries and supports legislation restricting minors' access to certain materials deemed obscene by local public library boards.

Jeff Landry named a task force on the issue without consulting the Louisiana State Police or the New Orleans Police Department.

Jeff Landry claimed that crime in New Orleans is "more dangerous than Chicago".

Jeff Landry claimed that his office was entitled to the funds because it must generate revenues to meet a portion of its own budget.

Edwards replied that Jeff Landry was fighting budget cuts that have been imposed on other state offices.

In 2018, Jeff Landry was elected to a one-year term as president of the National Association of Attorneys General.

In 2019, Jeff Landry declined to sign a letter in support of the SAFE Banking Act, which would permit marijuana-related businesses to use the banking system.

Jeff Landry joined the lawsuit and an amicus brief filed by the Missouri AG, seeking to overturn the results of the presidential election by challenging election processes in four states Trump lost.

In 2021, Jeff Landry sued the federal government for a requirement that health care workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, calling the requirement an "unconstitutional and immoral attack" on health care workers.

Jeff Landry has accepted $25,000 in political donations from American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company Pfizer as of 2024.

In 2024, Jeff Landry signed five bills into law that loosened vaccine requirements, limited the power of public health authorities, and cast doubt on the safety of vaccines.

Additionally, when reporters filed public-records requests, Jeff Landry sued and asked a judge to seal all records, something that the editor of The Advocate, Peter Kovacs, characterized as wholly egregious, saying, "In my 40 years as an editor, I've never seen a journalist get sued for requesting a public record".

On October 5,2022, Jeff Landry launched his campaign for governor of Louisiana in the 2023 election.

Jeff Landry was endorsed by the Republican Party of Louisiana and former president Donald Trump.

In September 2023, the Louisiana Board of Ethics charged Jeff Landry with accepting a gift in relation to his position as state attorney general.

Jeff Landry was accused of accepting private air travel from campaign donors.

Furthermore, the charging document claims Jeff Landry did not report the complimentary flights in financial disclosures to the Ethics Board.

Jeff Landry called the charges "election interference" and blamed Governor Edwards, who appoints board members.

On January 7,2024, Jeff Landry took a ceremonial oath and delivered his inaugural address on the steps of the Louisiana State Capitol; the event was held a day before he took office as governor due to expectations for bad weather.

Two weeks after taking office, Jeff Landry signed a redistricting bill the state legislature had passed to redraw Louisiana's congressional districts, in order to comply with a federal court order requiring that a second Black-majority district be created in the state under the terms of the Voting Rights Act.

Several political and civil rights groups have claimed the proposed maps are still gerrymandered, with Jeff Landry signing the legislation with the intent of unseating Congressman Garret Graves, who endorsed Stephen Waguespack during the gubernatorial election.

In March 2024, Jeff Landry signed several bills that reversed criminal justice reforms initiated by the 2017 Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

Jeff Landry eliminated parole, dramatically cut the ability of convicts to earn points for good behavior in prison, increased penalties for carjackings and weapons offenses, and permitted two more methods of execution.

Jeff Landry signed a bill to allow people to carry concealed handguns without permits.

On February 10,2025, Jeff Landry announced that the state had finalized its new execution protocol, allowing executions to be carried out in Louisiana for the first time in 15 years.

Jeff Landry signed the bill into law and called it "one of my favorites".

Jeff Landry said that the law's implementation showed that the Republican "majority gets to rule" in Louisiana, while instructing parents who were opposed to the display of the Commandments: "Tell your child not to look at them".

In June 2024, Jeff Landry enacted a law that excludes acts of civil disobedience from free speech protections on college campuses.

In October 2024, Jeff Landry held a press conference at LSU's Memorial Tower to announce an executive order aimed at enhancing the protection of free speech on public university campuses.

In November 2024, Jeff Landry urged LSU to take disciplinary action against professor Nicholas Bryner, the director of LSU's Climate Change Law and Policy Project.

Jeff Landry commented on recent changes in case law related to the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments and shared his views on Donald Trump.

Jeff Landry faced criticism for his response to the 2025 New Orleans truck attack.

Ahead of Super Bowl LIX, Jeff Landry invoked emergency powers to destroy the encampments and order the busing of more than 100 unhoused people to a "transitional center" he arranged under a no-bid contract.

Jeff Landry's administration requested that the US Department of Homeland Security reimburse $50 million the state spent to enhance security and operate the temporary shelter.