We’ve been hearing buzz about this for a while, that while it’s something John Kennedy has had in his mind as a desire it just isn’t in the cards for various reasons.

Now we know that, just as he did in 2019, Kennedy has kicked the idea of running for governor around and ultimately decided against it.

BREAKING: @SenJohnKennedy contacted his closest supporters today & told them he WILL NOT run for governor. "At this juncture, I just think I can help my state & my country more in the Senate," Kennedy wrote in the email. I'll have more tomorrow in https://t.co/ZgunXdzxW9. #lalege

— Jeremy Alford (@LaPoliticsNow) January 4, 2023

Greg Hilburn has more…

Republican U.S. Sen. John Kennedy said he won’t run for governor of Louisiana this year, which is likely to trigger a flood of on-the-fence candidates to jump into the race.

In November, shortly after winning a second, six-year Senate term in a landslide victory, Kennedy said he would give the governor’s race “serious consideration” and released a poll showing him as the front-runner, but ended speculation Wednesday.

“I have looked into my heart and decided to remain in the Senate and not to run for governor,” Kennedy said in an email to supporters. “At this juncture, I just think I can help my state and my country more in the Senate.”

Kennedy’s announcement puts Republican Attorney General Jeff Landry, who has already secured the state GOP endorsement, as the clear leader out of the gate and the only major candidate to have officially announced.

But Republican Lt. Gov. Billy Nungesser will likely be close on Landry’s heels as soon as next week. Nungesser, who said he will announce his intentions Jan. 10, released a poll he commissioned to the media Wednesday showing him as the leading Republican with 23%, followed by Landry at 22%.

Another statewide elected official, Republican Treasurer John Schroder, plans to announce his intentions on the governor’s race on Jan. 12.

That Nungesser poll was the subject of a lot of debate on Wednesday. Landry’s people think it’s a joke, while others took the position that if the Democrat candidate in the survey – Secretary of Transportation Shawn Wilson – is at 23 percent like Nungesser is, it shows there’s only one spot for a Republican in the runoff and Landry will simply just outrun Nungesser to get it.

We think that’s probably correct. So far it’s pretty obvious that Landry will put up more campaign activity than anybody else in the race. Assuming that activity attracts more support than it runs off, there isn’t anybody in the field who can match him. Nungesser hasn’t shown that, and the anti-littering TV ads running starring himself and John Bel Edwards in blue t-shirts probably won’t endear him to the Republican base a candidate would have to have in an effective GOP primary that this field would shape up to be with a single Democrat of limited appeal occupying one of the runoff spots.

But all of that, while worthy of conversation, is for another time. What’s important now is Kennedy will be staying in the Senate, which is a good development – he’s going to be needed there, as terribly dysfunctional as Washington is.