There haven’t been any surprises so far in the Louisiana political endorsement sweepstakes, and it’s unlikely there will be many.So when Rep. John Fleming announced today that he’s backing his former colleague Jeff Landry in the latter’s bid to unseat state Attorney General Buddy Caldwell, the proper reaction is a nod and a “yeah, figured that was coming.”

Congressman John Fleming, M.D., released the following statement today announcing his endorsement of former Congressman Jeff Landry for Louisiana Attorney General:

“Today I’m excited to announce my support of Jeff Landry for Louisiana Attorney General. Jeff is a highly respected Conservative who will protect the freedoms and values so important to the people of Louisiana.

“As a former member of Congress, Jeff was a staunch battler against Washington’s long arm of intrusion into our lives and businesses. He worked hard for smaller government, protection of our constitutional freedoms and liberty, and demanded an accountable Congress that answers to the people. As Attorney General, Jeff has the integrity to defend the Louisiana constitution and advocate important issues like consumer safety and fighting crime and corruption. We can trust in him to apply common-sense conservative principles as our Attorney General.

“I am proud to support him today and look forward to seeing him in office.”

Endorsing Landry is a no-brainer for Fleming, of course. Ideologically, the two are quite close – and Fleming isn’t going to find a more felicitous conservative in the AG’s race than Landry even if state treasurer John Kennedy gets into the race.

But more than that, this is a strategic move for Fleming. He’s going to want to attach himself to as many winning candidates in this fall’s statewide cycle as possible, because to do so could help him collect allegiances for next year – when Fleming is expected to run for the Senate seat that would be vacated if its current occupant David Vitter wins the governor’s race this fall. And Landry would be very high on that list, for a number of reasons. First, particularly if Kennedy stays out of the AG’s race Landry is a likely winner. Second, Landry would be (if he isn’t already) a charismatic and prominent Fleming ally in South Louisiana, something the congressman from Minden is going to need a lot more of if he’s going to pull majority support in the Senate race. And third, Fleming and Landry share a political rival in Rep. Charles Boustany, who held his seat against Landry in 2012 after the results of a redistricting process that created a lot of friction between Fleming and Boustany put the two Cajun Country congressmen in the same race. Boustany is widely rumored as a potential candidate for Vitter’s Senate seat Fleming wants to run for.

But in the meantime, Fleming gives Landry an entree into the Shreveport area and the northwestern part of the state that could be key to his victory over Caldwell, and perhaps Kennedy should he enter the race.