Jeff Landry will be the next governor of Louisiana according to WWL's political analyst.
With 76 percent of precincts reporting, Landry has 52 percent of the vote. His nearest opponent, Democrat Shawn Wilson, has 26 percent of the vote.
John Couvillon of JMC Analytics says once more votes are received from Republican stronghold parishes, Landry's total will go above the 50 percent-plus-one margin he needs to win the governor's race. Couvillon adds that low turnout in Orleans Parish will doom Wilson's chance to make a comeback.
"The Orleans Parish turnout was very low, and half of what's been reported thus far is the early vote, meaning there's not much of a cushion left for Shawn," Couvillon said. "Caddo Parish, which is another large Democratic-leaning parish, is virtually all in. East Baton Rouge Parish is about two-thirds in. There's not the votes, given that Jeff has a cushion of about 50,000 votes, there's not the sufficient number of votes in Orleans, East Baton Rouge, and Caddo to overtake Jeff's lead, which is currently 52.6 percent of the vote."
Couvillon says even if the rest of the votes from Democratic strongholds boost Wilson's numbers, he estimates that Landry would still be above the 50 percent-plus-one margin needed to win the governor's race outright in the primary.