If you’ve kept up with The Hayride over the past few weeks, then you’ve probably seen that there are some major concerns surrounding Governor Jeff Landry’s popularity. In fact, you might have seen Joe Cunningham’s article last week pointing that Governor Landry’s approval rating has dropped to a new low of 39%. Cunningham provided some interesting insight into how Gov Landry has lost key supporters over the past year:

“The poll shows Landry’s “very favorable” rating has dropped from 25 percent to just 19 percent—a sign that even among his base, enthusiasm is waning. Meanwhile, his “very unfavorable” rating has jumped from 31 percent to 39 percent, indicating intensifying opposition that goes beyond typical partisan polarization.

This is what happens when voters watch their governor reverse course on major policy positions, not because the facts changed or because he gained new insights, but purely because the political winds shifted. It breeds cynicism, reflected in that 54 percent “wrong direction” number.

Landry came into office with significant political capital. He won his gubernatorial race with a first-round majority in a crowded field—an impressive feat. He had the backing of the Republican legislative supermajority. Eighteen months later, he’s underwater statewide and losing ground in Acadiana. He squandered political capital through the transparent maneuvering on display in the redistricting saga.”

Scott McKay noted, though, that the poll was paid for by a left-wing organization and there are reasons to be wary of the results of the pollster. Morning Consult has Landry’s approval in the 50’s.

But a Republican governor in a state as deep red as Louisiana is ought to be a lot higher in approval than Landry is. Until things went south in his second term, Bobby Jindal’s approval ratings frequently topped the 70 percent mark.

Why is Landry having this trouble?

Cunningham isn’t wrong. But there’s more.

Governor Landry’s redistricting flip-flop is just one example highlighting the gap between Landry’s performative “conservative” image and the disappointing reality of some of his policies.

From cozying up to state’s top trial lawyers to sending state tax dollars to Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, Landry often appears to prioritize deal-making over ideological conviction when it comes to enacting actual policies. On the flip side, Governor Landry’s press conferences and media appearances on outlets like Fox News project a “staunch conservative” image that glosses over the weak substance in his time as Governor.

This pattern has reared its ugly head when it comes five particular issues— insurance reform, inviting Meta’s AI data centers in north Louisiana, the “Nelson tax swap” plan, Congressional redistricting, and the Governor injecting himself into LSU athletics.

This week Landry is the center of a national controversy over the firings of Brian Kelly and Scott Woodward, the football coach and athletic director, respectively, at LSU. And it’s strange, because virtually everyone in the LSU community wanted Kelly out after the Tigers got blown out at home by Texas A&M and it would seem unusual that the athletic director who put the university on the hook for a $50 million-plus buyout could possibly survive. The decisions that were made at LSU, which Landry was not in charge of making, by the way, were popular ones. And yet when Landry spoke in public about them he was put on blast – and not just by the legacy media and the Democrats.

Is Landry meddling? Well, he’s awfully public and it looks like he’s involved. And when people aren’t satisfied with the results of his other involvements, they’re absolutely terrified things won’t go well at the flagship.

When it comes insurance reform, Landry has publicly blamed “frivolous lawsuits” for Louisiana’s high insurance rates while also siding with Louisiana’s powerful trial attorney lobby by vetoing key insurance reform legislation in 2024. Then on a separate but tangentially related note, Governor Landry appointed former John Bel Edwards supporter and trial lawyer John Carmouche to the LSU Board of Supervisors.

When it comes to Meta’s AI data center, Governor Landry publicly opposed Meta’s (formerly Facebook) censorship of Louisiana citizens in 2020 while he was Louisiana’s Attorney General. Then just four years later, Landry incessantly glazed Meta in a press conference during which Meta announced it would build a AI data center in north Louisiana– despite legitimate concerns from Louisiana residents about the data center’s energy and water usage.

When it comes to the “Nelson tax swaps”, Governor Landry castigated the two-thirds of Louisiana voters who rejected Landry’s plan to expand the state’s sales tax.

When it comes to Congressional redistricting, Governor Landry signed Louisiana’s atrociously gerrymandered Congressional map into law in January 2024. Now, he is going on Fox News attacking the very map that he signed into law.

And yes, the Governor has an argument – and it isn’t a terrible one – that the real story on redistricting is about taking down Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act which unconstitutionally forces racial gerrymandering on state legislatures as they make maps. The problem is that’s far too complicated an argument to sell to people already suspicious of his motives.

And I should point out that until the Supreme Court renders the decision Landry and the Right agree that we want, he hasn’t won anything yet. Should that decision go wrong, the disconnect between the performance and the actual play isn’t going to be easy to bridge.

It’s a pattern. Governor Landry’s performative conservative posture is only frustrating his enthusiastic conservative supporters and angering his liberal detractors. The Governor’s performative gestures may dominate the headlines, but they cannot mask what a lot of his current and former supporters see as a deficit of authentically “Louisiana First” policies coming from his administration.

Of course, we have seen some minor improvements in Louisiana’s education system and crime in Landry’s time as Governor. There are reasons to believe our economy is beginning to grow. And the state is unquestionably on the mend from eight years of utter misrule by Landry’s Democrat predecessor John Bel Edwards, who wrought destruction on us in countless ways.

But these accomplishments aren’t going to be appreciated as Landry wants them to be unless he can deliver substance.

Insurance rates must come down. For everybody, not just a fortunate few. Cleo Fields needs to be gone from Congress. Government must shrink. The tax code must be friendlier. Quality of life must improve. And the pieces at LSU had better be put back together well, in an orderly way which doesn’t sap public confidence.

It’s not enough to constantly talk the talk. We need much more walking by the time Landry runs for re-election.

 

Nathan Koenig is a frequent contributor to RVIVR.com, a national conservative political site affiliated with The Hayride. Follow his writing on the Louisiana First Standard Substack, on Twitter (X) @LAFirstStandard, on Tik Tok @la.first.standard & on Instagram @lafirststandard. Email him here: louisianafirststandard@proton.me