Good Riddance to Louisiana’s Left-Wing Governor

On January 8, the red state of Louisiana is finally going to be led by a conservative Republican as Governor. In the October gubernatorial primary, Attorney General Jeff Landry defeated fifteen other candidates. He will be inheriting a state with massive problems, made worse by outgoing Governor John Bel Edwards, a left-wing Democrat.

In 2015, Edwards defeated a damaged Republican candidate, embroiled in a prostitution scandal. He campaigned as a conservative Democrat, with a military background and pro-second amendment and pro-life positions. Unfortunately, he has governed as a typical liberal, embracing big government solutions, eschewing needed budget and fiscal reform, and spewing typical progressive rhetoric about the dangers of climate change and COVID.

Edwards created economic misery in Louisiana, while our Southern neighbors experienced population booms. Over the last year, 1.4 million individuals moved to the South, increasing the region’s population by 1.1% to 130 million.

n contrast, the latest census report showed Louisiana lost 14,274 residents last year and, over the past three years, the state has suffered an outmigration of 84,000 people. This is the worst, per capita, population loss of any state in the nation, other than New York. The only other Southern state to experience a population loss was West Virginia, but the outmigration was much less, only 3,964 residents.

Why are so many people leaving Louisiana? Politics is certainly one reason as Louisiana is the only Gulf South state to be saddled with a left-wing Governor. During the pandemic, Edwards imposed draconian COVID restrictions and was terribly slow to remove them. While Louisiana was closed for business, other states, such as Florida, kept their economies rolling and their people employed.

Edwards supported President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party’s progressive agenda, such as allowing transgender surgery for children. He vetoed a bill that would have banned such procedures. Mercifully, it was overridden by the Republican-controlled legislature.

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